Naloxone with needle and kit in background.
(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)
December 10, 2016 - 11:30 AM
KAMLOOPS - School administrators in School District 73 will be getting trained in administering naloxone, the drug that can reverse the effects of opioids like fentanyl.
While administrators in all of the district's schools will get training, whether they choose to carry a naloxone kit in the school they look after will be their choice. Director of student support services Trish Smillie says the process will start in January and training will take place afterwards.
Administrators will then decide what’s appropriate for each school with training and kit distribution following. Smillie says the move is a preventative measure, and the main focus of the district’s efforts will continue to be preventative education.
“In B.C. no school age students have overdosed on school grounds,” she says. “What’s really most important is supporting the prevention of drug misuse.”
And the kits, which will be provided to the district for free, won’t be restricted to students.
“If we had a parent that came in and had an overdose, of course we would respond appropriately,” she says. “The kits are replaceable.”
The kits come as sprays or syringes and a decision hasn't yet been made on the type of kit that will be used.
“At this point we’ll be complying with whatever is recommended by our public health nurse,” she says.
Other school districts in the region are working on similar procedures.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Brendan Kergin or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016