Life-saving naloxone will be available in Lambton-Kent public high schools as a precautionary measure in the event of an opioid overdose.
Lambton-Kent District School Board Superintendent of Education Gary Girardi says they're acting on the advice of public health authorities in Lambton and Chatham-Kent.
"Each school will be provided with a complimentary naloxone kit from the health unit," says Girardi. "The goal is to prepare school administration to administer the naloxone, should the need ever arise which would be important if there was ever a case where we need to reverse an opioid overdose."
Girardi says they have had no cases of overdoses but they want to be prepared just in case by having naloxone nasal spray on hand.
He says other school boards have adopted the strategy as part of the Ontario Good Samaritan legislation. The bill protects individuals from liability when they're trying to help those who are ill, hurt or unconscious as a result of an emergency.