Inquest scheduled for April into overdose death in Victoria university dorm room

A coroner’s inquest has been scheduled for April 28 into the overdose death of a University of Victoria student last year after her family says there were delays in administering naloxone and starting CPR.

Eighteen-year-old Sidney McIntyre-Starko died in January 2024 of cardiac arrest due to fentanyl poisoning in a dorm room at the university.

In an open letter to Premier David Eby last May, her parents blamed “catastrophic failures” by both the university and the 911 operator, saying campus security waited nine minutes to administer the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and 12 minutes to start CPR.

At the time, Eby called the timeline of events “profoundly disturbing” and said the Solicitor General would be directing a coroner’s inquest

B.C.’s minister of post-secondary education later promised the province would work with institutions to roll out overdose prevention measures on campuses.

The University of Victoria says in a statement that it welcomes the inquest and that changes have been made over the last several months to enhance safety.

Those changes include providing opioid overdose emergency kits, with naloxone, installed on every floor or common area in residence buildings, and updated protocols across campus to call 911 first in an emergency and then call campus security.

Ryan Herriot, a co-founder of Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, says more needs to be done to educate people in preventing these types of incidents. For example, when someone is overdosing, he says people should know that keeping the airways clear is the most important thing.

“That is how opioid poisoning kills people, is it’s reducing their drive to breathe,” he said.

“The most important thing, honestly, is that you get fresh oxygen into their lungs.”

With files from 1130 NewsRadio staff.