B.C. mulls making CPR training mandatory in high schools after student’s overdose

The B.C. government says it is working on making CPR training mandatory for high school students.

This change comes after 18-year-old University of Victoria student Sidney McIntyre-Starko died in January of fentanyl poisoning.

In an open letter, her mother Caroline McIntyre, who is an emergency physician, said a 15-minute delay in her daughter receiving naloxone or CPR contributed to her death.

McIntrye said her daughter’s death was preventable and believes CPR and naloxone training should be standard in high schools and that easy-to-use naloxone should be widely available to avoid similar tragedies.

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The province has now hinted it is working on a plan.

“I think that anytime that we advocate for CPR in the public sense, whether that’s in schools or our workplaces or our communities, we’re making our communities much safer,” Lyle Karasiuk chair of the Canadian Red Cross First Aid Education told Global News.

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The B.C. Teacher’s Federation said it is in favour of the idea.

In a previous statement, B.C.’s Minister of Health and Addictions said the province is working on adding mandatory CPR training in high schools and purchasing nasal naloxone in larger quantities.

The ministry did not provide further details when Global News reached out on Tuesday.

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