Nursing background showed me need for naloxone kits in schools, education minister says

Newfoundland and Labrador's education minister says her nursing background has shownher the importance of havingnaloxone kits in the province's schools.

Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell, who was a registered nurse before entering politics, said she knows the impact of the kits,which are now available as part of first-aid supplies at junior and senior high schools.

"From a nursing background, we understand thechallenges that come with opioidoverdoses," she said Wednesday.

The kits contain a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose and can save lives if administered by someone with proper training. Having the resource in the hands of school staff is important, said Howell.

"When we talk about the opioid crisis in general, we recognize that we are not immune to that here in Newfoundland and Labrador and certainly not in our school system."

Howell said each school will have an administrator who istrained to use the kits.

CBC News reported in February that the number of suspected drug-related deaths had increased over the winter, marked by five sudden deaths over the course of a week.

WATCH | N.L.'s education minister explains why naloxone kits belong in schools:

Naloxone kits are in junior and senior high schools to deal proactively with opioid crisis: education minister

5 months ago

Duration 1:49

Education Minister Krista Howell initially refused multiple times to discuss the issue of naloxone kits in schools. At an unrelated event on Wednesday, when asked by the CBCs Mark Quinn, Howell discussed growing opioid use and a need to have safety measures in schools.

A memo sent to school communities from NLSchools last week, obtained by CBC News, says the addition of naloxonekits was prompted by an increasing number of drug-related deaths across Canada. Canadians between 15 and 24 are the fastest-growing population requiring hospital care due to overdose, says the release.

"In the event, you know, the unfortunate event that it is required, it is there for their use and their safety," Howell said.

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