BC Must make it mandatory for universities and high schools to have emergency nasal naloxone kits/boxes in student residences and wherever students hangout
Become Familiar With Naloxone:
Sidney would likely be alive if nasal naloxone was available in the dorm where she collapsed. The students who responded were smart, capable, responsible people who were motivated to help. They were at her side in less than a minute of her collapse, plenty of time to treat her and save her life. If they had access to naloxone in residence they could have treated Sidney before campus security or paramedics even arrived. Tragically, the University of Victoria does not put emergency supplies of Naloxone in dorms. University of Victoria officials told us they did not make the life saving drug Naloxone available in their dorms as it would be tampered with.
Why risk having to wait for campus security or paramedics when a competent student may be nearby and willing to help?
After three overdoses on campus requiring Naloxone in one week, one that resulted in a death, the University of Victoria has not placed emergency supplies of naloxone in their residences or across campus. Some of their highly motivated and responsible student community leaders pinned naloxone kits to some bulletin boards in their own residence buildings. When asked by the media if the University of Victoria plans to make naloxone more widely available in dorms and across campus , the university replied that they would only continue to supply naloxone where it is currently supplied on campus: their harm reduction centre and wellness centre, the pharmacy and with campus security. In the same media response they supplied the following quote:
“Ensuring the safety of our community remains our top priority, especially amidst the pervasive threat of toxic drugs that are claiming the lives of youth at an alarming rate in our province.”
Kevin Hall, University of Victoria President and Vice- Chancellor
Other Universities do much better than in providing emergency supplies of naloxone in residence. UBC places naloxone in their residence buildings with an AED:
‘In the case of naloxone, opioid-overdose related deaths remain a persistent problem in British Columbia. Fatal overdoses can be prevented with better access to naloxone. We want to ensure that an emergency dose of naloxone is available on site for a resident or guest to use if an overdose or suspected overdose occurs’
Starting in 2019, Carleton University in Ottawa put up emergency Naloxone boxes in all residences and multiple buildings across campus. They have 19 emergency naloxone boxes and are increasing that number to 26 this year. They have never had an opioid related death, this was done as a preventative measure to keep their students safe.
See naloxone kit installations on campus:
This type of emergency box containing easy to use nasal naloxone should be set up in all dorms and main buildings on campus and in all high schools and community centers where people between the ages of 12 and 24 congregate. You can build your own, or get them at:
https://bereadyhealthcare.com/shop
Young people are developmentally at a stage where they are more prone to risky behavior like trying a drug. In BC, 90 percent of the drug supply is contaminated with fentanyl and can quickly kill. Young people believing that are taking Ecstasy, cocaine, a study drug or a pain pill may be taking fentanyl. Tragically both the 911 operator and campus security failed to recognize the dire emergency and treat Sidney in time to save her even though the people who responded had the resources.
