Imagine you’re a high school junior, hanging out at home with friends after a football game when you notice that your best friend is not just passed out or taking a nap: she is unconscious, blue and barely breathing. You knew she was taking “energy pills” she got online but didn’t think she was taking any other drugs. You call 911 and wait, shaking her and telling her to wake up.

Now imagine you have a nasal spray you can give her that will restart her breathing and wake her up while you wait for paramedics to arrive. Imagine you can save her life.

You don’t need to imagine this; it exists and is available to all Pennsylvanians for low to no cost. Naloxone, often referred to by its brand name Narcan, is effective in reversing an opioid’s effects in overdose, a life-saving intervention that restores spontaneous breathing.

Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day, the world’s largest campaign to end overdoses. As physicians who treat patients with substance use disorders, we have seen firsthand the devastation that an overdose brings to families and communities, and we have witnessed the miracle of an overdose reversed by naloxone: someone’s teammate, someone’s best friend, someone’s child.

Drug overdoses are now the third-leading cause of pediatric deaths in the United States, after firearm-related injuries and motor vehicle crashes. Despite the fact that substance use among children and adolescents has been decreasing, the rate of overdose deaths has increased. This surge has been primarily attributed to the increase in illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.

Fentanyl has been identified in counterfeit pills and as a contaminant in nonopioid substances, making it likely that children and adolescents are unintentionally using fentanyl. A total of 7.4%, or 69,000, Pennsylvanians between 12 and 17 years old report using drugs in the last month, and 6.2% of American adolescents report nonmedical use of prescription drugs in the past year, many of which may contain fentanyl.

In 2023, 1913 children and adolescents died from drug overdoses in America, and 1 in 3 adolescents know someone who has experienced a drug overdose.

Providing access to naloxone in high schools and educating teachers and school nurses on how to reverse an opioid overdose is an intervention that can save our children’s lives. Between October 2024 and September 2025, the Pennsylvania Overdose Prevention Project reported 11,425 overdose reversals from naloxone distribution.

Increasing access to, and knowledge about, naloxone increases the chance of surviving an overdose, with one study finding 90% of overdoses successfully reversed following community distribution of naloxone and education on its use. Two-thirds of adolescent overdoses are witnessed; increasing knowledge about and access to naloxone will increase the likelihood that adolescents receive this life-saving intervention.

As physicians, we support increasing access to naloxone, especially for children and adolescents. Rep. Robert Freeman, D-Northampton, has sponsored a bill that aims to do just that. HB 803 would require all high schools in Pennsylvania to maintain naloxone on campus. Twenty-five of Freeman’s colleagues, including one Republican, have also signed on as co-sponsors.

This summer, state Reps. Emily Kinkhead and Chad Reichard introduced a bill to allow the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to buy generic naloxone rather than exclusively purchasing Narcan. Given the cost-saving nature of purchasing generic naloxone compared to the brand name, the hope is to provide more doses of naloxone to people who need it most at a more affordable cost to the state.

Twelve states have laws requiring all public high schools to keep naloxone on-site. These include our neighbors New Jersey and Maryland, but it’s not a regional issue limited to Democratic-led states. Texas, Alaska and Arkansas are among the Republican-led states to have passed similar laws.

And across the country, many college campuses have implemented harm-reduction programs with access to free naloxone. All schools in the Big Ten Conference, including Penn State, offer free naloxone, and many offer training to students in how to use naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses.

Seven of eight Ivy League schools and 15 of 16 SEC schools also have these programs. Naloxone is a common and widely accepted intervention for millions of high schoolers and college students and Freeman and his 25 colleagues are working to bring it to more Pennsylvanians.

This legislation provides Pennsylvania with the opportunity to save lives and demonstrate its commitment to a safe and healthy future for every child. We call on the state Legislature to pass HB 803 before the end of this session in November.

‍

This is a contributed opinion column. Dr. Amanda Perez is an internal medicine resident in Philadelphia. Dr. Wynne Lundblad is a psychiatrist in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Both are members of Doctors for America, a physician-led nonprofit that fights for equitable healthcare. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. For more details on commentaries, read our guide to guest opinions at themorningcall.com/opinions.

‍

View more published op-eds from Doctors for America members

‍