What do you do if a library staff member gives Narcan to a person who overdoses in the Belleville Area District Library – and the person dies anyway?
This was one of the questions discussed at Tuesday’s regular meeting of the district library board. Board member John Juriga asked what the library would do for the person who gave the Narcan and failed to revive the person. Library Director Mary Jo Suchy said counseling or whatever was necessary would be provided.
Board members discussed the details of using Narcan and the liabilities to the library. There is no policy on using Narcan and no Narcan in the library, so all this was in a “what if?” discussion.
The library held a recent public Narcan training session, which was not well-attended, and two employees were trained to administer the substance that can bring overdose victims back to life.
It was announced that another Narcan training session would be held by Van Buren Township, in cooperation with the Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority, at 6 p.m. Sept. 12 at Wayne County Community College District, 9555 Haggerty Rd. This session will lead off with a general discussion and then have a training session and distribution of free Narcan. Some library workers don’t want to be responsible for dealing with drug overdoses. Nobody does, but sometimes it’s right in front of you.
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1 Comment
Weather
Personally I feel if someone is using drugs and overdoses, they are responsible, not a library staff member, The staff should call the emergency people who are trained to handle these situations. If the library person is trained to handle this situation, that is different.