Saving lives: Girl Scout educates others about overdose treatment for Gold Award project

Eliza Davis was lying on the floor.

She wasn’t moving.

A medical expert, Dr. Janet Astle, came over to check on her.

Astle pulled out a nasal spray and was about to place it in Davis’ nose and administer the liquid medication.

Then, Astle stopped.

Because this was a demonstration for the Fox Chapel Rotary on Jan. 24 at the Lauri Ann West Community Center in O’Hara to address the importance of what to do if you think someone is overdosing.

“I would push this (plunger) if this were really happening,” said Astle, as she held the bottle of Narcan, also called naloxone, an over-the-counter drug used to treat a known or possible opioid overdose.

Astle and Davis were giving a presentation to the Rotary as part of Davis’ project to earn a Girl Scout Gold Award. Davis, a senior at Fox Chapel Area High School, has been working toward the award for years.

The Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA, earned by senior and ambassador Girl Scouts. Only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the award.

Part of the process involves a minimum of 80 hours. Davis has exceeded that, said her Girl Scout mentor, Sharon Enslen, who reviewed Davis’ project proposal and has been guiding her through the process.

Enslen said she immediately liked Davis’ idea. It fit the criteria of being sustainable and having education and leadership components.

Davis has reached out to a broad group of people and shown she is engaging with others to get the message out, Enslen said.

“This is an experience that can make a difference in her life,” Enslen said. “She will be in an elite group of women. Girl Scout Gold awardees are a breed of their own.”

“Davis certainly is a poised young lady,” said Astle, who is retired from the Duquesne School of Pharmacy and an advocate for Narcan as a rescue medication. She also places an emphasis on breaking the stigma around substance use disorders.

Astle is Davis’ project adviser, an adult who chooses to be on a Girl Scout’s Gold Award team and who has some level of expertise on the issue the project addresses.

Mary Catherine Reljac, superintendent for the Fox Chapel Area School District, attended the Rotary presentation.

“We are so proud of Eliza,” she said. “She is taking action to improve the lives of others. She is using what she has learned and is making an authentic connection to the lives of others in the community and that warms my heart.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more than 1 million people have died since 1999 from a drug overdose. In 2021, 106,699 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States.

“That is like a jet liner going down every day,” Astle said.

“This is a very impactful topic Eliza has chosen.”

It all began for Davis when she took a lifeguard and first aid training in ninth grade and an emergency medical services course last summer. Those inspired an interest in a career in medicine.

She also attended Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), a program that gives kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs and violence. It is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.

“This is something she has always been interested in,” said Davis’ mother, Bitsy Davis, who is her daughter’s Girl Scout troop co-leader with Debby Krebs. “To have someone 17 talking about this … young people, hopefully, will trust her and listen to her.”

Eliza Davis calls Narcan a miracle drug that can be used by anyone, anywhere to save lives. It should be incorporated in regular first aid training, said Davis, who intends to pursue a degree in public health or sociology and then become a primary care physician for underserved populations.

“This can affect anyone,” Eliza Davis said. “If you are vulnerable and take prescription drugs, you can get hooked.”

The focus of her project is harm reduction, a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use.

Harm reduction works by addressing broader health and social issues through improved policies, programs and practices.

Eliza Davis plans to do more demonstrations.

It all begins with taking small steps to help people, she said.

Astle said a major problem is that some drugs are being laced with fentanyl ,which is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.

“It doesn’t take much to kill someone,” Astle said. “People don’t realize they are taking fentanyl.”

Even if you aren’t sure it’s an overdose, administering Narcan can’t hurt the person, Astle said.

And, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, “Good Samaritan” laws offer legal protection, or immunity, to those who seek medical attention or administer naloxone to someone experiencing a drug-related overdose and consequently may be at risk of arrest, charge or prosecution for drug-related crimes. These laws aim to reduce fatal overdoses by encouraging people to call 911 if they experience or witness a drug overdose, rather than avoiding law enforcement due to fear of arrest.

Narcan can be purchased over the counter. Astle carries some with her at all times. Narcan knocks the opioid off the receptor in the brain that controls breathing, Astle said. If this project helps save one life, it will all be worth it, she said.

“Once someone starts using drugs, there isn’t a lot of resources for them,” said Davis, who has been in Girl Scouts since she was 6. “You can’t just tell people not to use drugs. The response has been to punish people. This is not the best way to deal with this. It is not a moral failing.”