Recently, the Oshkosh Area School District (OASD) installed Overdose Aid Kits (also called O.A.K.s), a new safety resource, in middle and high schools. The kits contain Narcan, a nasal spray medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and save lives.  

O.A.K.s are similar to other emergency equipment in North, such as AEDs, or epinephrine “Epipens”. Matthew Kaemmerer, Director of Pupil Services of OASD, said the kits are for both students and the broader community.

“We haven’t had any student overdoses yet, but we have had instances where parents have overdosed in a parking lot waiting for their child. We haven’t had any [overdoses] in our schools, but we want to be prepared in the event that someone, whether it be a student or somebody here for an event, encounters a worse case scenario,”  Kaemmerer said.

The O.A.K. boxes were installed in bathrooms across North, and were done without the use of taxpayer dollars, fully funded by the nonprofit organizations the Clinton Foundation, and Start Healing Now, Kaemmerer said. He noted OASD works with the Winnebago County Health Department to ensure that the kits are resupplied when needed.

“There were no tax dollars used for the boxes, the boxes were donated largely by the Clinton Foundation and Start Healing Now. Between those two organizations, they donated all 18 that we received into the district, and all of their funding comes through donations.”

The kits could help continue to reduce overdose rates in Winnebago County. Kaemmerer believes these kits, along with OASD staff training to administer narcan, could help save lives in the event of an overdose.

“Overdoses in Winnebago County were down a bit in 2024 from 2023, which is a good sign, but all it takes is one, and that’s where I feel like we’re more prepared now to respond to this crisis in a way that could potentially save a life if we needed to.”