Rockhampton state school students hospitalised after taking prescription drugs from another student

A group of 11-year-old students were  rushed to hospital after a classmate told them if they took the drugs 'they would never have to have babies again'

A group of 11-year-old students from a Rockhampton state school had to be rushed to hospital last month after they swallowed opioid addiction drugs given to them by a classmate.

The students, three girls in grade six, were given Buprenorphine, a prescription drug which is taken as a replacement in the treatment of heroin and methadone addiction.

The Morning Bulletin spoke with caregivers about the incident who wished to remain anonymous.

The Morning Bulletin understands a male classmate had allegedly taken the drugs from his mother and told the girls it was birth control and if they took it “they would never have to have babies”.

The pills took effect almost immediately and the girls had heart palpitations, headaches and dizziness and were very upset and distraught.

The students told the teachers what had happened and the paramedics and the students’ parents and caregivers were called.

The drug exchange had occurred at the back of the classroom without the teacher’s knowledge.

The 11-year-old students took Buprenorphine, a prescription drug which is taken as a replacement in the treatment of heroin and methadone addiction

The boy’s bag was searched and it was found he had a bag of the pills all individually wrapped in glad wrap.

The girls were all taken separately in ambulances to hospital where it was diagnosed they had ingested 8mg of Buprenorphine.

Due to the reference of birth control, the girls were required to do pregnancy tests.

“They were really scared and were all crying, they couldn’t understand what was happening to their bodies,” a caregiver said.

The girls had to be hooked up to ECGs and were admitted overnight for observation.

Thankfully, they were released the next day and there were no long-term effects from the drugs.

“It could have been worse, it could have been higher milligram, it could have been anything,” a caregiver said.

“There was more inside his backpack, it was lucky it was only them.”

The whole ordeal was very distressing for everyone involved but the caregivers had nothing but praise for the staff at the school.

“They did immediately respond, they rang the paramedics straight away, police … there wasn’t any fault by the school,” they said.

The caregivers said the important issue was for parents and caregivers to be more careful with their medications.

“The fact is more people need to be aware this is happening, it was actually another child that gave them,” they said.

“You assume everything is safe inside a classroom.

“Parents and caregivers need to know to not keep drugs where children can get to it.

“Educate their children on this and people who have this stuff at home need to hide.

“They need to educate their children on taking any substance …. At that age, kids will believe anything.”

The Department of Education advised it was aware of the incident “involving a small number of students ingesting an unknown substance that was discarded on school grounds at the (Rockhampton) school on 21 July, 2021”.

“As soon as school staff became aware of the incident, the Queensland Ambulance Service was contacted,” a department spokesperson said.

“The students were transported to hospital for evaluation and were released 24 hours later.

“The school community was notified of the incident that day and provided with support options, including access to the school guidance officer for those who required it.

“The school has assisted the QPS in their investigations and is unable to comment on outcomes.

“Due to student privacy no further information can be provided.”

Due to the juveniles involved, The Morning Bulletin has not been able to name the school.

Originally published as Rockhampton state school students hospitalised after taking prescription drugs from another student