Bernstein High School student hospitalized for possible drug overdose

A 17-year-old student at Helen Bernstein High School in Hollywood was hospitalized Friday due to a possible drug overdose.

Los Angeles Police Department officers and Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics were called to the school about 2 p.m. on reports of a medical emergency and found the boy suffering from symptoms indicative of a drug overdose, according to LAPD Officer Drake Madison.

It was not immediately known what substance the student ingested.

Friday’s incident marks the second time a student at Helen Bernstein High School suffered a dug overdose in just over a month. A 15-year-old female student was found dead on campus after overdosing on fentanyl on Sept. 13, police said.

Melanie Ramos was found unconscious in a girl’s bathroom and pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Her friend was hospitalized.

The Los Angeles Unified School District announced in September it would make  the anti-overdose drug Narcan available at all of its campuses by mid-October and provide it to all LAUSD School Police officers, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.

Carvalho also announced plans for a district-wide education campaign, including a “peer-to-peer” effort, to teach students about the consequences of fentanyl use.

“There is nothing better than a student peer to explain the consequences associated with fentanyl to other students,” he said.

The district also plans to roll out a safety task force that will work with school police and other local law enforcement agencies to provide a “greater level of supervision” in parks and other areas where students are believed to be obtaining drugs.

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