Attendees Trained to Spot Overdoses and Save Lives

Training provides attendees with the skills to identify an opioid overdose and administer live saving medication. 

Dr. Branch and Dr. Abney explain Naloxone kits to trainees.
Dr. Branch and Dr. Abney explain Naloxone kits to trainees

County Health Officers Dr. Gregory Branch, Dr. Barbara Brookmyer, and Dr. Dianna Abney trained and certified MACo Summer Conference attendees on using Nalaxone for overdoses. Naloxone is a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent overdose by opioids such as heroin, morphine, and oxycodone. It blocks opioid receptor sites, reversing the toxic effects of the overdose.

Dr. Brookmyer and Dr. Branch
Dr. Brookmyer explains the Naloxone certificate.

Attendees learned how to:

  • Recognize an overdose
  • Respond to an overdose (and how not to!)
  • Administer Naloxone

Participants received a certificate of completion and a dose of Naloxone in the form of narcan nasal spray kit.

Each participant received a Naloxone kit courtesy of Charles County.
Each participant received a Naloxone kit courtesy of Charles County.

This training, which was provided by the Maryland Association of County Health Officers (MACHO), was offered on both Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to give conference goers multiple opportunities to take advantage of this life saving training.

The 2016 MACo summer conference was held August 17-20 at the Roland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City Maryland. This year the conference’s theme was “Cyber Solutions: Counties in the Digital Age.”