Quebec teens to learn how to use naloxone, intervene in case of an overdose

It's been three years since Isabelle Fortier lost her daughter, Sara-Jane. 

She had been alone in her University of Ottawa dorm room when she suffered an overdose due to fentanyl in her drug supply. In her grief, Fortier turned to educating herself, gaining a certification in drug treatment and prevention, to understand why her daughter died.

"If I had known all the things I know now, it might have changed something. It might not have," she said. "She died of a toxic drug supply. That's what killed her."

But Fortier knows now what would have definitely saved her daughter's life: naloxone, and someone who knew how to use it.

That's why she's welcoming the news that high school students across Canada will soon be learning how to administer naloxone nasally, in case of an opioid overdose. The opioid antidote can be used to temporarily counteract an overdose if a powerful opioid, like fentanyl, is ingested.

The new training will be initially deployed in select schools in Quebec, Alberta, Ontario and B.C., before being expanded across the country.

"It's like what we've been doing with sex education, or alcohol consumption," Fortier said. "We need to tell the kids what they're dealing with."

The training will be provided by the Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation, which already coordinates free CPR and defibrillator training in schools across Canada.

Health and physical education teachers will be the first to learn the protocol, so they can then teach it to their students starting next school year, explained Sandra Clarke, the executive director of the ACT Foundation.

The plan is for students in Grade 9 (Secondary 3 in Quebec) to voluntarily receive the training, along with their existing CPR and defibrillator program.

Naloxone is available in many Quebec pharmacies free of charge.

People can search for pharmacies with the medication on the Quebec government website or on a searchable map from the province's institute of public health (INSPQ).

With the growing opioid crisis showing no signs of slowing down, Clarke said the training is needed now more than ever.

At least 450 people died of a suspected opioid or drug overdose in Quebec last year, according to the INSPQ.