As Heather Williams takes nursing students on tours through the halls of Wakefield High School, she makes a point of showing them red boxes mounted on the walls.
They contain naloxone, which has increasingly become available in D.C.-area schools. She also explains the Arlington school district allows kids to carry the opioid overdose treatment if their parents provide permission.
In the years since a Wakefield student died after a suspected overdose in the school bathroom, Williams has worked to gain students’ trust, warn them about the dangers of opioid use and connect them with any medical services they may need…