The addition of medical courses, equipment and know-how of life-saving measures is gaining momentum in the Richmond School District.
Cambie secondary is expanding its medical science program for Grade 11 students interested in learning about standard first aid and becoming a first responder.
The high school first launched its medical science program in 2020, but only for Grade 12 students, where they can earn two certificates under the Canadian Red Cross, standard first aid and CPR-C and first responder certification.
Last Wednesday, the Richmond Board of Education approved the second medical science course for the school.
Meanwhile, three McNair students continue to promote the importance of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and naloxone kits in schools and district facilities, which were approved last year by the board of education.
McNair secondary students Erin Bhandal and Emily Zeinab and McNair grad Ali Safdari, who are involved in the Richmond High School First Responders (HSFR) program, were at that board meeting advocating for this equipment to be installed in schools.
They said the topic of the life-saving equipment, especially AEDs, came up "time and time again" among students at their school.
AEDs are portable devices that can analyze a heart's rhythm and deliver an electric shock to re-establish the heartbeat during a sudden cardiac arrest.
Naloxone kits are used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose or toxic drug poisoning -- a crisis that is killing about six to seven people a day in the province.
"These tools are meant to save lives. Like they're in community facilities all throughout the Lower Mainland and you'll see AEDs everywhere so it just didn't make sense for us not to have (them) at schools," said Safdari.
The trio took the opportunity to deliver a presentation about the program and the need for AEDs and naloxone kits at the June 19 Board of Education meeting.
"Being given that space, we decided to take it on," Safdari added.
During the same evening, the Richmond Board of Education approved the motion and made its final cost report on Sept. 25 to add naloxone nasal kits and AEDs in a "secured space" on site to the tune of $192,700.
Tanya Major, executive director of human resources at the Richmond School District, explained at the Sept. 25 meeting the two life-saving measures will only be accessible by designated and trained individuals at each site.
Presentation to the Board of Education
Safdari, Bhandal and Zeinab prepared research and had discussions with teachers, district administration staff, Richmond Board of Education Trustee Debbie Tablotney and Superintendent Chris Usih prior to their presentation.
"I'll never forget how we wrote down our three phases on the whiteboard of one of our teachers' classrooms including meeting, understanding and explaining what the first responders program and everything related to it was about," explained Safdari.
"Essentially the gist of our information, data and stuff like that, we collected and created a Powerpoint presentation to present to the board."
The trio felt nervous - out of excitement rather than being scared - on the day of the presentation.
After their presentation, there was a divide among students and concerned parents in the room.
Safdari said the concerns from parents were "understandable," but the people they found supporting the topic were students, teachers and people who are on school grounds every day.
"Those that supported us are at school, seeing school environments and what's going on every single day, whereas the parents who had concerns, they're not really there. They have valid concerns, but they're not seeing the problems and issues that need to be solved in the school," said Safdari.
"I really felt our presentation needed to happen for them to understand that a student's voice is very important to improve our school and the issues that are happening inside the school."
He added the main purpose of the presentation was to "get rid of misinformation and educate people."
"In today's day and age, there should be no excuse for being misinformed when you have tools like the internet or ChatGPT at our disposal.
"Emotions were definitely high in the room, but this is a topic that requires a lot of compassion."
The trio felt thankful to have a school board willing to listen to student voices.
"They were so supportive and so helpful in giving us that platform and space to host our opinions," said Safdari.
Bhandal described the moment as "crazy" when the motion to have naloxone kits and AEDs in schools and district facilities was approved after so many attempts by other students.
"It's a very crazy opportunity and I'm glad that we actually were listened to and it's going to be in effect soon. It's very rewarding," she said.
Zeinab added it happened so quickly that they were also in shock.
Life as a student first responder
"The student first responders program and club isn't really a club. It's more of a commitment."
This was what McNair's vice-principal told the trio and it has stuck with them to this day.
Bhandal said that student first responders who are part of the program often have to sacrifice school time for daily emergencies.
"Students have to come out of class and make sure people are okay because it's really on us to care for the student population," she said.
"If you're on call, you have to go, otherwise it could be dangerous."
While students in the program are presented awards at the end of the year for their service, it is the time and dedication to saving lives that keep them going.
Zeinab told the Richmond News students in the program racked up more than 200 volunteer hours last school year.
"I think we were all on call almost every single day ... especially because of the shortage. It was literally just us three at a time. It was also very stressful," said Zeinab.
At the moment, McNair has four students with level two occupational first aid certification and around 13 students with standard first aid. Students work on-call with a switch on-and-off schedule per week, explained Bhandal.
"The training we get is basically the same medical training firefighters and police officers have," she added.
"They don't make a training program for students - this is a full adult first responder course."
McNair has seen an increased interest in the first responder program this school year and they are excited to have more students seeking ways to be proactive in life-saving measures.
However, they've had to turn away a few students as they already have a large on-call list and want to prevent overcrowding on their schedules, Bhandal added.
McNair has a smaller team than Cambie secondary, explained Safdari.
"Cambie has one of the largest teams because the program itself is implemented within their health sciences class," said Safdari.
"Richmond student first responders are all doing their best. Whether it is knowing basic first aid or CPR and the soon-to-be-implemented AEDs and naloxone kits.
"At the end of the day, any one of us could have a cardiac episode and no one can predict that."
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