Training provides attendees with the skills to identify an opioid overdose and administer live saving medication.
St. Mary’s County Health Officer, Dr. Meenakshi Brewster, trained and certified MACo Winter 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.

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.
This training, which was provided by the Maryland Association of County Health Officers (MACHO), was offered on Wednesday, Dec. 7 following the screening of Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict.
The 2016 MACo Winter Conference was held December 7-9 at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Resort in Cambridge, Maryland. This year the conference’s theme was “An Ounce of Prevention.”