Catholic school board report recommends 911, first aid over naloxone kits

The Huron Superior Catholic District School Board (HSCDSB) is still pondering the possibility of making naloxone kits widely available throughout its schools.

During Wednesday night’s board meeting, trustees heard from superintendent of education John Bruno as he presented his report on naloxone kits to the director.

“Even though naloxone seems simple to administer, many things can still go wrong,” Bruno told trustees. “If naloxone kits are adopted, they must be adopted properly with ongoing training and policy development.”

The recommendations from senior administration conclude that the HSCDSB “continue to rely on calling 911 in emergency situations given the excellent response time of first responders,” Bruno said, adding that the probability of an overdose occurring within the board’s schools is ‘very low’ according to information provided by Algoma Public Health.

“The Board’s senior administration is aware of the data provided by officials at Algoma Public Health indicating that the population most at risk of overdosing in the Algoma region is older than our elementary and secondary population, sometimes significantly so,” reads the report.

Another recommendation made in the report is for the HSCDSB to continue its ongoing training of its employees in first aid and CPR in order to ‘extend the response time of paramedics’ in the event of an overdose at one of its schools.

Currently, at least two people in each of the Catholic schools are required to have first aid and CPR training.

Trustee Kathleen Rosilius, who openly advocated for naloxone kits in HSCDSB schools during the previous board meeting, says the kits should be made available regardless.

“We have put defibs [defibrillators] in our schools, and there was great resistance to that, but I don’t think anyone had to have a heart attack before we put a defib in, and I think this is the case with the naloxone kit,” said trustee Kathleen Rosilius. “I don’t think we have to have somebody die to decide well, maybe that’s something we should do.”

Trustee Leslie Cassidy-Amadio said that she supports the recommendations from senior administration, but more education on drug use - and additional mental health supports - is required.

“The only thing that I would add to the recommendation is to enhance our education on drugs and drug overdoses and the dangers of drugs, and increasing our well-being, our mental health and well-being initiatives for our students,” said Cassidy-Amadio.

Board chair John Caputo asked Bruno if there had been any overdose incidents in HSCDSB schools.

“We could not think of anyone that we could tell you, we don’t have any numbers, no,” Bruno said. “The answer to that is no.”

Board trustees did not put forth a resolution on the naloxone kit issue Wednesday, but Bruno told SooToday during last month’s board meeting that a decision should be made by the end of the academic year.