A Medical Health Officer with Interior Health says she is looking into expanding Naloxone training for young people.

Dr. Carol Fenton’s comments come after a small number of students at Sa-Hali Secondary School brought home Naloxone kits last week, prompting a visit to the principal’s office by the mayor of Kamloops.

“I’m really glad that we’re having these conversations because it has triggered a review of what we’re doing for these youth and it’s really important,” Fenton said on NL Newsday Monday.

Fenton says that over the last year, there were 30 people in B.C. under the age of 18 who died due to toxic drugs, noting that those deaths are “entirely preventable.”

It is why Fenton says she plans to start having conversations around expanding training to prevent toxic drug poisonings among young people.

“Just like we deliver CPR training in first aid classes, it’s something that we want to equip young folks to know how to do — both with and without naloxone,” she said, noting she’s open to the idea.

“From what I’ve seen, we don’t have a formal program at all to deliver this; so it’s mostly through student initiatives or one off things.”