Schools may soon offer naloxone for overdoses

Kelowna suffered 22 drug overdose deaths from January to April 30, 2017

Schools in the Central Okanagan may soon be offering naloxone kits in response to the growing drug overdose epidemic in the province.

“Interior Health has requested school districts to perform an assessment of the likelihood of someone witnessing an opioid overdose and the consequence of not having naloxone available,” said superintendent Kevin Kaardal in a memo to the district’s general affairs committee.

Naloxone is a drug used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, including heroin, morphine, fentanyl, methadone and codeine.

Naloxone is available without a prescription to anyone in B.C. for emergency use, and anyone is able to administer the drug with the appropriate training.

The Central Okanagan district found the likelihood of people in local schools witnessing an opioid overdose to be low, but the consequence of not having naloxone available to be high.

“We have had recent reports of a couple of students who have self-identified to using fentanyl off school site and came to school for help,” said Kaardal.

Kaardal recommended the district purchase intranasal naloxone kits for secondary schools and for staff to receive training on how to administer naloxone.

“People may feel more comfortable with the idea of administering an intranasal product,” he said. “Intranasal does not require disposal in a container for injection equipment.”

In Kelowna, there were 32 drug overdose deaths from January to April 30, 2017, compared to 47 deaths all of last year.

In the Okanagan, there were 50 drug overdose deaths in the first four months of the year, at a rate of 40.4 per 100,000 people.

Across Interior Health, there were 74 deaths in same period, at a rate of 29.6 per 100,000 people.