A group of middle schoolers in California were treated after exhibiting overdose symptoms during the school day. All of the students shared that they ate some sort of gummy, and soon they were all lethargic, anxious and not feeling well. It’s unsure what drug they may have consumed, but it was definitely something more powerful than just sugar.
The school has warned parents to be more aware of what their children are bringing to and from school. It is also trying to emphasize how important it is to talk to kids about drugs. The investigation is ongoing.
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The incident happened early in the school day.
Firefighters arrived at Walter Reed Middle School in Los Angeles around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 17, according to KTLA 5. The fire department said it examined 17 students between 12 and 13 years old after they took sort of “banned substance.”
LAFD Captain Erik Scott told People that the students were exhibiting signs of possible overdose, including “nausea, vomiting, lethargy, anxiety.”
No one knows what exactly the students consumed.
As of Thursday afternoon, it was still unclear what kind of substance the students had consumed. They did tell the authorities that they consumed candy resembling a gummy bear, multiple outlets reported.
“There was no evidence of any significant fentanyl type drugs. What were described as gummy bears were ingested. That’s still being evaluated and is part of an active investigation, but the signs and symptoms were lethargy, increased heart rate, some anxiety type symptoms, so nothing that was life threatening at that point,” Scott told KABC.
There were plenty of medical personnel on hand.
Scott told People that there were “a total of 35 firefighters on scene, including five ambulances and two advanced providers, which were nurse practitioners that fully evaluated” the 17 students.
Two students were taken to the hospital for an undisclosed reason. The remaining students were released “on the scene to either the school or their parents,” LAFD representative Margaret Stewart shared, per People.
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The school released a statement to students and their families.
The Los Angeles Unified School District shared the statement shared with the Walter Reed Middle School community with the major news outlets. It read:
“The safety of our students and staff remains my top priority. Today, we became aware that a group of students may have consumed a banned substance. Emergency personnel were contacted, and students received medical attention. The parents of the affected students have been notified. The Los Angeles School Police Department is currently investigating this incident, and we are actively working with our local health partners. We ask that you talk to your children about substance abuse and the harmful side effects of controlled substances. We need your help to educate our students about the harms that drugs can cause. For more information about the impact of drug abuse, please visit this resource from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.”
Parents are still concerned.
One parent, Daisy Samoya, told KABC that this is the second time this sort of incident has happened at the school. She also shared that the school didn’t notify parents and she only found out after her son called to tell her. She immediately went to pick him up.
An anonymous mother told People that there were helicopters flying over Walter Reed Middle School. Since there have been two shooter lockdowns in the last few months, she decided to go to the school and see what was going on. As she made her way, she got “an email from another parent saying kids had ingested a substance, paramedics were there and it was turning into a crime scene.” She saw the ambulances up close.
“After I knew my son was safe, I then thought about all the kids looking out the windows, while trying to study and learn, seeing a barrage of emergency vehicles and sick, scared kids and how that is a trauma in and of itself,” she said. The school did say it is providing mental health resources in its statement.
