Inquest into UVic student’s fatal overdose recommends improvements to B.C. and campus emergency response [Video]

The jury in a British Columbia coroner’s inquest into the overdose death of a University of Victoria student has recommended a raft of measures for government, schools and B.C.’s emergency dispatch system.

Key among the five-person jury’s recommendations released late Thursday morning were boosting education around safe drug use, making sure campus buildings were clearly addressed and stocked with emergency equipment, and updated protocols for campus security and 911 calls.

Sidney McIntyre-Starko, 18, died in January 2024 after snorting fentanyl in her UVic student residence with two dorm-mates.

The coroner’s inquest into her death, which began May 5, heard that despite two of the three students falling unconscious and turning blue, campus security officers with first aid and naloxone training didn’t administer the opioid-reversing …