Former Abbotsford police chief and lawyer Bob Rich has delivered an independent report into the overdose death of University of Victoria student Sidney McIntyre-Starko.
On January 23, 2024, at the age of 18, Sidney died of an opioid overdose in her dorm room—which may have been prevented had there not been a delay in administering Naloxone and CPR.
Sidney’s family made a social media account following her death called “Sidney Should Be Here.” In a post from May of 2024, they wrote that it was due to “catastrophic failures by both the University of Victoria and the 911 operator that led to her preventable death.”
They added that both university staff and 911 had the “means, time and opportunity to save her.”
Today the university has said they accept the findings and recommendations in Rich’s report.
The review outlines 18 recommendations to make the campus safer in light of BC’s toxic drug crisis. Over the past six months, Rich interviewed more than 50 staff, students, first responders and experts to gather details about what happened to Sidney, the steps taken in response to this incident, and best practices for the future.
According to the report, on the night of her death, Sidney took drugs along with two other first year students in the third-floor washroom of the Sir Arthur Currie residence on campus.
The powder was later determined to be cocaine laced with fentanyl.
Two of the three students became unconscious and fell to the floor, and other students on the same floor responded and called Campus Security and tried to help. The third student, who did not become unconscious, called 911.
Two security officers responded quickly to the scene.The first security officer arrived in just under four minutes and started “making inquiries to determine why the two students were unconscious.”
Eventually, nasal naloxone was given to the two unconscious students, but while one began to improve, the other went into cardiac arrest. At that point a security officer started CPR.
Firefighters then arrived on scene and took over, with paramedics arriving shortly after. Unfortunately, although her pulse was restored and she was taken to hospital for treatment, Sidney never woke up and on Jan. 26, 2024 was declared dead.
In his report, Rich found that one of the reasons for the delay in getting the students the help they needed was due to another student who insisted that they had not taken drugs. The security guards did not check for signs of an overdose at that time.
After taking the drugs in the bathroom, the students had gone back to a dorm room, where two of them, including Sydney, passed out and began seizing.
The conscious student did not advise security that they had taken drugs, nor did they inform the 911 operator.
It is not until a fellow student said there is drug residue in the bathroom that it is decided that there was a high likelihood that they were dealing with a drug overdose.
“Like many tragic events, there were several points where, had the response been different, Sidney likely would not have died,” Rich wrote in the report.
Overall, although the university had measures in place and security guards had been trained, but the processes weren't "robust" and did not “meet the moment.”
Other recommendations included mental health support for staff and students, having a staff member who can apply basic first aid in the residences, and having a Good Samaritan policy in place to ensure those calling for help don’t get into trouble.
Rich also said that the university needed to assign one person to be in charge during critical incidents such as this one. One observation made was that during the incident, multiple senior staff were contact but the person responsible to decision making that night "was not clear."
“The safety and wellbeing of our campus community are top priorities, and the recommendations in this report are important in ensuring Sidney’s death leads to meaningful and lasting change,” says Kevin Hall, president and vice-chancellor.
“I want to thank Bob Rich and members of the UVic community for their engagement in this review,” added Hall. “While the university has taken action over the past year to improve safety on campus, there’s more to do and we’re committed to the work ahead.”
A coroner's inquest is scheduled for April 28, which will also examine the events leading up to the young woman’s death.
