Socorro students attend Narcan training

Teresa Rosales and her daughter Savannah talk before a presentation to freshmen.
Russell Huffman | El Defensor Chieftain

Around 100 Socorro High School students participated in Narcan training on Oct. 25 as part of Red Ribbon Week.

“We are giving you these today, but this isn’t a license to go out and party like a rockstar,” J.C. Trujillo said. “We are here trying to help prevent an overdose.”

Students Miguel Ponce and Andrea Ochoa took part in the Narcan training.

Trujillo works for Socorro’s Positive Outcomes, a business that, among other things, specializes in early intervention and reality. The training has been sparked partly as a reaction to the report of two high school students possessing the deadly drug fentanyl on campus. That number has grown to three students.

As Trujillo presents instructions on using Narcan, students glance at photos of one of their former classmates, Tomas Rosales, another statistic in fentanyl’s lethal numbers. After slides about Fentanyl’s effects and explaining a person can’t overdose on Narcan, Trujillo and school counselor Francis Fuller demonstrated the product.

“I feel like our students are here to take care of their friends and family,” Fuller said. “I don’t think they’re here to get Narcan for themselves. I think they’re thinking of others. And I respect that a lot about them.”

Students Miguel Ponce and Andrea Ochoa took part in the training and shared their thought on the day.

“I thought that it was very helpful. This is the kind of thing we need to be doing, especially in this era,” Ponce said.

With reports of fake pills and fentanyl being delivered in bright and rainbow colors resembling Skittles and other candy, it’s made Ochoa cautious about things like unattended drinks.

“Even just the littlest dose can kill you, and you never know who has it or if it’s close to you, so it’s kind of scary,” Ochoa said.