Medicine Hat Public School Division and numerous community organizations came together to host wellness fairs at Medicine Hat and Crescent Heights high schools.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Medicine Hat Public School Division is collaborating with local and regional organizations to make naloxone training accessible to high school students aged 16-plus.
The optional training was introduced last year and incorporated into the division’s student wellness initiative.
MHPSD originally partnered with Alberta Health Services to provide the training, however it is now working with several local organizations as well.
Earlier this month, the Medicine Hat Drug Coalition, Moms Stop the Harm and the Red Cross came together to provide training at MHPSD’s high school student wellness fairs, held at both Medicine Hat High School and Crescent Heights High School.
Members of the three organizations shared information about drug poisoning with students who expressed interest in learning more, and invited those above the age of 16 to receive training on how to use naloxone, a medication to temporarily reverse the side effects of drug poisoning.
Students who completed the training were then given a nasal-spray naloxone kit – a type of kit not usually free to members of the public. (Usually nasal-spray naloxone kits cost $450, however injection naloxone kits are available to the public at no-charge at most pharmacies.)
Local MSTH member Kym Porter confirmed more than 275 students completed the training between the two schools, and says she is grateful to MHPSD for allowing them the opportunity to learn.
“Some people think talking to kids about this is just going to enable drug use,” said Porter. “What we say is it doesn’t enable that; what it enables is life. It can enable someone to continue breathing.”
Porter hopes students can take what they learned from the training and use it to protect the well-being of themselves, their peers and other community members.
“It’s to be prepared – to be proactive to what’s out there,” said Porter.
Danielle Lank, MHPSD My Place success coach says student safety and well-being is a primary focus of the division, and so making the training accessible to interested students is something the division hopes to continue moving forward.
“(We) have families who are dealing with things and kids themselves are dealing with things, and it’s important that we all just, in general, know how to save ourselves or possibly someone else,” said Lank. “Because you never know the situation we’re going to be in.”
Students who were unable to attend the wellness fairs will have another opportunity to receive naloxone training in May, as provided by AHS.
Lank emphasized naloxone training was one of many opportunities students were invited to take part in during the wellness fairs, where more than 15 unique local and regional organizations took part, including McMan Youth, Family and Community Services Association; BeYouth Centre; Miywasin Friendship Centre; the Medicine Hat Public Library; the Canadian Mental Health Association Alberta Southeast Region; the YMCA; the Root Cellar Food and Wellness Hub; Sanare Centre; Our Collective Journey and more.
“We have such a big array of students at both schools and some of these kids have some very diverse needs,” said Lank. “So, it’s just important in general that we’re bringing in all of these community organizations (which are) providing support for these kids in all the different capacities that they do.”
