Western University is taking steps to make sure its campus is ready to respond to the national opioid crisis.
Members of the Student Emergency Response Team (SERT) will carry naloxone kits while they’re on duty.
“Carrying the naloxone is new this year. We had training from the Middlesex-London Health unit last month. Our clinic carries it and so does the team,” said Cynthia Gibney, Western’s director of Health Services. “In case it happens, we’re ready for it. We do that for any sort of medical issue. We try and have the teams, whether it be health services or the student emergency response team, prepared.”
Naloxone is capable of reversing an opioid overdose.
“We’re taking proactive measures by having naloxone kits carried by our student emergency response team. I can’t really comment on the use on campus, but we’re just being proactive. Just like we carry a defibrillator as well. We hope that cardiac events don’t happen, but if they do, we’re prepared for them,” said Gibney.
Gibney says SERT members are student volunteers who respond to emergency medical calls 24/7 on campus. They deal with about 1,000 calls a year.
Fanshawe College says its medical teams won’t carry naxolone as part of their kits for now, but it’s monitoring the situation.