Latest news with #SidneyMcIntyreStarko
CBC
15-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Inquest into UVic student's fatal overdose recommends improvements to B.C. and campus emergency response
Social Sharing 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 drug until nine minutes after they arrived, and didn't start CPR for another three minutes after that. The 911 call also faced scrutiny during the inquest, starting with the B.C. Ambulance call-taker taking the first 3 ½ minutes of the emergency call to determine the location of the Sir Arthur Currie student residence on campus. WATCH | Coroner's jury calls for action on multiple fronts: Coroner's inquest into UVic student's overdose death issues findings 17 minutes ago Duration 8:40 Lifesaving first aid was also delayed because the student who called 911 did not immediately reveal to the 911 operator or to campus security that she and her friends had taken drugs. That student told the inquest it was because she was afraid of getting in trouble. The inquest also heard testimony about the software used by the 911 operator. With the two unconscious students reported as turning blue and having seizures, the software put the 911 operator into the system's seizure protocol, which directed the 911 operator to ask if the unconscious students were pregnant or had brain tumours, among other conditions. The inquest heard from an American expert in emergency medicine who is of the opinion that a simplified emergency response known as "no-no-go" can lead to better, quicker emergency responses and better outcomes for people in cardiac arrest, like McIntyre-Starko. Since B.C. declared toxic drugs a public health emergency in 2016, over 16,000 people have died of overdoses. The B.C. Coroners Service says unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of death in the province for persons aged 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural causes combined.
CBC
15-05-2025
- CBC
Coroner's inquest into UVic student's overdose death issues findings
A coroner's inquest into the overdose death of 18-year-old UVic student Sidney McIntyre-Starko released its findings Thursday. The inquest jury is calling for action at numerous levels, from government ministries and the university to 911 dispatchers. Karin Larsen has the details.
CTV News
14-05-2025
- CTV News
Jury at inquest into UVic overdose death will continue deliberations Wednesday
The jury in a coroner's inquest into the fentanyl death of 18-year-old UVic student Sidney McIntyre-Starko will continue deliberations for another day.
CTV News
14-05-2025
- CTV News
Jury still to reach verdict regarding UVic student's overdose death
Vancouver Watch The jury in a coroner's inquest into the fentanyl death of 18-year-old UVic student Sidney McIntyre-Starko will continue deliberations for another day.
CTV News
13-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Testimony wraps at coroner's inquest into overdose death of UVic student
Nearly three dozen witnesses have taken the stand over two weeks to lay out the facts surrounding the accidental overdose death of Sidney McIntyre-Starko – and the emergency dispatch procedures undertaken as the tragedy unfolded. A coroner's inquest has heard McIntyre-Starko and two other University of Victoria students ingested fentanyl-tainted cocaine on the evening of Jan. 23, 2024, in a dorm room on campus. McIntyre-Starko, 18, and one of the other students went into medical distress. Other students called campus security and 911 but did not immediately tell either that drugs were involved in the medical emergency. As a result, the 911 dispatcher began working through protocols for medical possibilities that did not involve an overdose. Eventually, one of the students admitted to the 911 operator that the students had taken drugs. When a security guard heard the student say that he administered naloxone, a drug that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. One of the students experiencing medical distress survived, but McIntyre-Starko did not. The inquest heard there was a 15-minute delay between the time McIntyre-Starko collapsed until security injected her with Naloxone. Jeff Clawson, an American medical doctor, who has spent nearly 50 years practising medicine, testified via Zoom from Salt Lake City, Utah, on Monday morning. He helped design the Medical Priority Dispatch System used in B.C. and he told the inquest the 911 call in this case was one of the five or six most complex he's heard in his entire career. 'It was a really tough one. My heart went out to everybody on this call, from the patients to the dispatcher – everybody,' he said. Clawson said if the dispatcher had known immediately that the students had taken drugs, they likely would have gone to 'protocol 23' in his system, which applies to overdoses. 'Multiple patients unconscious is something we want to look at in multiple ways,' he said. Tuesday morning the presiding coroner will charge the jury with final instructions before deliberations begin. The two men and three women will then determine an official cause of death and come up with a list of recommendations that could possibly help prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future. They are not allowed to lay fault or blame on any person or entity for McIntyre-Starko's death.
