By: Corbett Gildersleve, News Writer
On March 11, SFU announced that naloxone kit cabinets are now available across the Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver campuses. Naloxone is a medication that works within two minutes to “temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, also called an opioid poisoning.” These cabinets have been installed near emergency phones and/or Automatic External Defibrillator locations, including instructions on how to use naloxone. Maps of these locations are available on the SFU Safety & Risk Services website and SFU Safe app via the “First Aid” tab. The Peak reached out to Sarah McKay, director of Campus Public Safety (CPS), and was forwarded to the Office of Student Support, Rights & Responsibilities for more information, but did not receive a response by the publication deadline.
The provincial government required the installation of naloxone kits as part of an early action report from their Post-Secondary Overdose Prevention and Response Steering Committee. This committee was formed in late May 2024 by the minister of post-secondary education and future skills, Lisa Beare. The committee was tasked with “developing overdose prevention and response actions for public post-secondary schools” for the fall 2024 term. The committee recommended a series of early actions by July 2024. These actions included prioritizing calling 911 first over campus security when there’s a medical emergency and having post-secondary institutions sign up for toxic drug awareness services like Toward the Heart.
It was also recommended that access to naloxone be improved in student housing and on campus in conjunction with awareness of overdose prevention. The committee developed a 10-page guide for post-secondary institutions which built on the early action recommendations with additional actions. Notably, these guidelines recommend working closely with First Nations “to develop overdose response plans.” This involves recognizing them as “another level of government” and following through with “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, and the broader commitments of the province to First Nations.” The guidelines also include considerations toward additional training around “cultural safety and anti-Indigenous racism practices.”
Maps of these locations are available on the SFU Safety & Risk Services website and SFU Safe app via the “First Aid” tab.
SFU stated in its announcement that many of these recommendations were already being followed before the report was released, with the university now making improvements. SFU added nasal naloxone to their first aid kits in 2017, and CPS staff have carried naloxone pouches since 2019. In 2021, CPS added “naloxone training to their basic first aid courses taught to students, faculty, and staff.” Additionally, “all CPS staff have mandatory Occupational First Aid 1, 2, or 3 training, Mental Health First Aid Canada, and SafeTalk suicide intervention, prevention and response certifications.” New training measures at SFU include CPS staff working with Fraser Health to obtain a refresher on toxic-drug poisoning response.
The Peak reached out to SFU for a statement on their engagement with the Indigenous-related recommendations: “The university has worked to include Indigenous leaders and staff at the SFU Indigenous Student Centre in training and harm-reduction education sessions.” They also noted they are “in communication with the First Nations Health Authority to support integration of their Not Just Naloxone train-the-trainer program to support further development of SFU community member-led training and education. This work is still ongoing and will be integrated into planning for new student orientation, as well as more training and workshop offerings this fall.
“Collaboration with Indigenous leadership is also ongoing to ensure that nasal naloxone, an AED, and emergency phone with accessibility features are included within the new First Peoples’ Gathering House,” now expected to be completed sometime this year.
