Coroner's report reveals serious drug overdose deaths among youth
Xinhua, January 28, 2016 Adjust font size:
A new report from the Coroner's Service of British Columbia in west Canada released on Wednesday showed that more than 175 young people died of drug overdoses in the province from 2009 to 2013.
Most of the overdoses were caused by mixing drugs, or by combining those drugs with alcohol, said the report entitled "Preventing Death After Overdose."
"In some cases, someone had expressed concern for the young person's well-being before they died," it added.
Twenty-six of those fatalities were still teenagers, aged 15 to 18, and many of them were with a friend when they overdosed. Medical intervention was tried in more than half of these cases.
Most of the 156 young adults, aged 19 to 23, were alone when they overdosed and, therefore, attempts to save them were less frequent.
The report puts up some recommendations, including the children's ministry working with foster parents and relevant organizations to teach youth to know the signs of an overdose and the importance of phoning 911, as well as the education ministry updating physical education curriculum to address phoning 911 when young people being with overdoses. Endit