By Ashley Wiebe

College staff, faculty now trained in administering Naloxone

Apr 25, 2018 | 4:52 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — In an effort to combat the fentanyl crisis, Naloxone kits have become common place.

Many pharmacies have made the kits easy to access and more workplaces are training their staff on how to use them.

“The risk is out there so I think it’s good for everybody to have a kit and to be aware of how to use it and when to use it,” said pharmacist Melissa Hozack.

Hozack helped train staff and faculty at Medicine Hat College on Wednesday on how to use Naloxone to save someone’s life.

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

23h ago

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

Medicine Hat College holding event for missing and murdered Indigenous women awareness day

Apr 16, 2024

Officials with the college began discussing the idea of having kits on campus at the start of the school year.

“The numbers in the community seem to be rising and so we are hoping to be a bit more proactive in having folks, particularly key folks, trained so that we can respond appropriately,” said Irlanda Price, associate vice-president of student development.

Price said the college isn’t aware of ever having had an overdose on campus, but knows it can happen.

“We will have, after today, over 50 people that have been trained to use the Naloxone kits,” she added.

Along with knowing what’s in the Naloxone kits, staff have also learned about what an overdose looks like.

“Your first sign is that they’re non-responsive, they’re not breathing,” Hozack said. “If they can’t talk, if they’re stumbling, kind of in and out of consciousness.”

“The Naloxone would only take about two to five minutes to kick in and at this point you’re still going to continue rescue breathing until things get going from there,” she added.

Hozack said a second dose might be necessary, depending on how far away the paramedics are, but it’s crucial to stay nearby even after the Naloxone has begun working.

“They’re going to be going through withdraw, they’re going to be angry,” she said. “We don’t know why they tried to overdose or if it was an accidental overdose.”

Price said the college won’t stop and hope to have more training.

“We will be then taking this one step further and incorporating this into our overall institutional emergency response plan,” she said.

Price hopes to open up the training to all students, but especially to those who live in residence and those who take on key leadership roles around the school.