Bureaucrats with the B.C. government took to the stand as the coroner's inquest into the death of 18-year-old Sidney McIntyre-Starko, who died of fentanyl poisoning in a University of Victoria dorm room in January 2024, came to an end.
Throughout the inquest, the jury heard from witnesses to determine the facts surrounding her death, and they will soon make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Among those who testified was Kashi Tanaka, who serves as executive director of post-secondary operating and emergency support for the Ministry of Secondary Education and Future Skills. He outlined the government's efforts that followed McIntyre-Starko's death, beginning with a call convened by then-minister Lisa Beare with the presidents of 25 B.C. post-secondary institutions. It was during that call that an overdose prevention and response committee, on which Tanaka currently sits, was announced.
"The minister, along with the premier and the ministers of health and mental health and addictions, as well as those deputy ministers, met with the family of Sidney, provided an update on what they were going to be doing, and the work commenced really soon after that," Tanaka said. He added that the first committee meeting was held five days after the meeting with the family.
Less than one month later, the committee identified three changes that post-secondary institutions can quickly make to enhance campus safety.
"First was removing any ambiguity on who to contact in the event of emergency," said Tanaka. "We were aware that there was some legacy literature around that suggested that individuals might want to call security staff before they called 911, and we wanted to be as clear as possible that the first call that you should be making in any emergency is to 911."
The second change was for post-secondary institutions to expand on toxic drug alerts; if a toxic supply of drugs is identified, an alert would go to students' phones. The last was to ensure that naloxone was more readily available to post-secondary students.
By the end of summer 2024, the government launched an awareness campaign through advertising and media. It also distributed about 1,600 nasal naloxone kits 乌鸦传媒� 3,200 doses in total 乌鸦传媒� to all public secondary institutions and First Nations-mandated institutes with physical campuses.
On Sept. 4, 2024, they also rolled out guidelines for institutions to develop an emergency response plan for dealing with overdoses on campuses.
"[The guidelines] emphasize developing standardized response protocols, training requirements, and integrating harm reduction messaging across institutions," said Tanaka.
The awareness campaign took a multi-channel approach, explained Evan Howatson, executive director of overdose response for the Ministry of Health. It used TV commercials, radio ads, digital platforms like Facebook and Youtube, billboards, transit ads, shelter ads, and also partnered with local sports teams including the Vancouver Canucks and the BC Lions.
A website, linked in the advertising, saw about 169,000 visits during the campaign.
"The website talks about how a small amount, even the size of a grain of salt, of fentanyl can be poisonous. It talks about the highly toxic nature of the drug supply. It also talks about having conversations with youth, making sure that they're informed of what has been going on. It does also provide information on our action and treatment options," said Howatson
The jury will start deliberations this week before making their recommendations to the coroner.
