Fentanyl overdoses — should an antidote be available in Sudbury schools?

With the growing use of opioids in the province, several school boards in eastern Ontario are considering keeping an antidote — naloxone —  in schools.

• Ottawa Public Health targets schools in overdose prevention outreach
• Naloxone kits fly off pharmacy's shelves after reports of Kanata overdoses

Ottawa Public Health has reached out to addiction counsellors at school boards across the city to inform them about their "Stop Overdose Ottawa" website and campaign.

According to Health Canada, Naloxone can be administered quickly to counter the effects of pain drugs fentanyl or carfentanil, which can be deadly.

However, representatives for the two English school boards in Sudbury say this isn't under consideration at this time.

Community groups being proactive

Elsewhere in the city, Reseau Access Network began making the drug available in January 2016 — and has handed out 150 kits since then.

Camille Lavoie, a nurse with Reseau Access Network, says only those who have used opioid drugs in the last six months — or their friends and family — can get a naloxone kit from the agency.

When they first started the program, the kits came with an injectable drug, Lavoie says. The kit contained two vials of naloxone and a syringe — and users had to be trained on how to administer the antidote.

Now the kits contain a nasal spray that can deliver the antidote.

Lavoie says the latter will help counteract carfentanil, which is more potent than fentanyl.

'Working on a plan'

The Sudbury and District Health Unit says it is currently looking at making naloxone available to those who may need it in the community.

"We've not approached the school boards yet," said public health nurse Brenda Stankiewicz, lead for Sudbury's community drug strategy.

"We are working on a plan." 

Making naloxone available to schools is "still within discussion and needs to continue to be discussed," Stankiewicz added.

Lavoie says having an antidote to opioids in schools may be a comfort to parents.

"There is overwhelming fear out there."

She notes the youngest client given a naloxone kit by the Reseau Access Network was nineteen.

Naloxone is also available for free from pharmacists who bill the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. Those kits are usually injectable treatments.

In an email to CBC News, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care says naloxone kits are available free of charge through pharmacies, local public health units, community-based organizations and provincial hepatitis C teams.

The ministry does not distribute naloxone or training supplies to schools at this time.