Elkford’s PE 10/11/12: Naloxone and the Opioid Crises

Contributed by Andrew Gulyas

Elkford Secondary School

On November 10th Mr. Gulyas’ PE 10/11/12 talked with Jenepher Hebert from Elkford’s Community Paramedicine about the Opioids Crises and opioid overdoses.

There was a lengthy discussion about Fentanyl and how Naloxone can help in the case of an overdose.

Hebert discussed the concept of Harm Reduction and how knowledge along with understanding how to properly administer Naloxone, could save lives.

Students then had the opportunity to go through the hands-on procedures and develop their skills. Students were given the chance to take one Naloxone Kit home in case they ever needed it an emergency.

This first aid class has prepared students to act in case of an over dose emergency for a drug that is plaguing not only British Columbia but the nation.

In Canada “16,364 apparent opioid-related deaths occurred between January 2016 and March 2020,” according to the government of Canada.

In British Columbia, according to the BC Coroners Service, 1,202 people have already died of a fatal overdoses in 2020.

This is a provincial and national issue.

Talking about these problems and preparing students to act if ever an emergency occurs could save lives in the future.

Preparing students to be safe is part of a harm reduction initiative in BC, the BC Centre for Disease Control has a program called Take Home Naloxone, where anyone can have the kit at no charge and receive training.

The idea is that people either at risk of an overdose or people that could witness an overdose would be prepared to do first aid on a suspected opioid overdose person.

This was a very practical class for a real world problem in our country and our province.

Students were able to freely discuss their understanding of the current crises and become further informed as well as prepared for the future.