School bus driver revived with opioid antidote after crash

NEWARK, N.J. – Police in New Jersey’s largest city say they used an opioid-overdose antidote to revive a school bus driver after the bus carrying a dozen special-needs children hit a tree.

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose says authorities used naloxone because it appeared 57-year-old Lisa Byrd was under the influence of a narcotic.

The students ranged in age from 5 to 13 and were not injured as the bus appeared to cross a street and bump into the tree during a snowstorm Wednesday.

Ambrose calls the situation “irresponsible and heinous.”

Byrd is charged with child endangerment, driving while impaired and possession of drug paraphernalia. It could not be determined whether she has a lawyer to speak for her.