Health IQ: Mental Health amid Tumbler Ridge shooting trauma

By rahmat hidayat

Minggu, 08 Maret 2026

Email not displaying correctly? View this email in your browser   A search for mental health answers The metal-clad portable classrooms are arranged in a semicircle on a snowy sports field at Tumbler Ridge Elementary. It's a 15-minute walk from the community's secondary school, where five students and a teacher's aide were shot dead about three weeks ago and B.C.'s infrastructure minister calls the new buildings "an important step toward restoring routine & connection for students & staff" of the secondary school. While some mental health experts say they understand the "knee-jerk reaction" to move the students, they warn of risks associated with "avoidance" and the unintended long-term impacts that may ensue. Read more to find out about the impacts of such an event. Animal tranquilizers mixed with fentanyl  While data shows the number of overdose deaths is falling in Canada, there's a growing concern over the detection of an animal tranquilizer being found in the unregulated drug supply. It's called medetomidine and is a potent sedative used primarily by veterinarians. A recent alert by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control says opioids like fentanyl are now being often mixed with the sedative. But it's not only showing up in British Columbia."Medetomidine itself is used by veterinarians and we don't have approval to be using that in humans and we've started to see that it is showing up in the unregulated drug supply," said Dr. Emily Austin, the medical director of the Ontario Poison Centre.According to Toronto's Drug Check Services, the number of illicit drugs that medetomidine is showing up in could be at about 80 per cent, even higher than the 50 per cent B.C. public health officials say they're seeing. Read more to find out about the side effects associated with the drug. — THE TOPIC — Toronto Public Health temporarily pauses vaccine-related suspensions of students Toronto Public Health (TPH) says it is pausing student suspension orders related to vaccine records for the remainder of the school year to reduce administrative burdens on families and schools. The city says the change to its Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) assessment program takes effect immediately for the 2025-2026 school year and is intended to give students more time to complete outstanding records. Under Ontario's ISPA, students are required to have routine childhood vaccinations on file or submit an exemption in order to attend school. Once records are complete, they must be reported to TPH. According to the city, more than 50,000 student records were not up to date at the start of the school year. While many have since been updated, the city says about 30,000 student records remain outstanding. Read more to find out about the health agency’s response. SHARE Health IQ Like what you read? Help spread the wisdom, and email Health IQ to a friend! Got this newsletter forwarded to you? Want to sign up to receive weekly updates?  CLICK HERE    This email was sent to rh3252705.ikut@blogger.com Why did I get this?  |  Manage my subscription  |  Unsubscribe here © Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc., 2026. All rights reserved. Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. Corus Quay. 25 Dockside Drive, Toronto, ONTARIO M5A 0B5. Canada.

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