A senior student at Spring Mills High School, Kareena Sood, organized a naloxone training session for her peers with the aim of potentially saving lives. The event took place on January 29 in the school’s auditorium and was led by social workers Caroline Wilson and Richard Marks from WVU Medicine’s Community Outreach for Resources and Education (CORE).
Approximately 50 students and staff attended the program, which covered topics such as recognizing opioid overdose signs, administering naloxone via nasal spray, and subsequent steps to take, including calling emergency services. Participants also learned about the dangers of counterfeit pills. Students aged 16 and older who had parental permission were given naloxone to take home.
Caroline Wilson remarked on the uniqueness of the event being coordinated by a teenager. “This was a first for us,” she said. “I was actually highly impressed that students led this initiative.”
Kareena Sood is involved in the Drug-Free WV Youth Coalition and is an officer in her school’s Health Science Career Club. She aimed to educate her peers about lifesaving treatments and encourage interest in public health efforts.
Teacher Karla Hilliard highlighted Kareena’s philanthropic spirit, noting that both Kareena and her sister Karissa have initiated Cardinals for Community, a project focused on aiding the homeless. Hilliard herself has personal motivations tied to substance misuse education due to losing her brother to an overdose in 2018.
Hilliard praised Kareena’s organizational efforts for the event, which included securing space, contacting presenters, and handling logistics with support from Principal Mark Salfia. “She was amazing,” Hilliard commented.
Kareena acknowledged Hilliard’s role in promoting the program through various channels. Her father, Dr. Vineet Sood, supported his daughters’ involvement by guiding them on whom to contact for leading the training.
Participants appeared engaged during the event. “They were all interested and invested,” noted Kareena, who plans to pursue a premed program at West Virginia University.
Hilliard emphasized the importance of teaching young people about saving lives as an act of humanity: “They talked about the humanity of saving someone’s life,” she said. She expressed hope in seeing young people engage in meaningful community work: “They’re our hope.”
