Public Libraries: “For These Philly Librarians, Drug Tourists and Overdose Drills are Part of the Job”

From Philly.com Column by Mike Newall:

I visited the century-old library that sits atop Needle Park in Kensington because I’d heard its staff was the first in the city to learn how to administer the lifesaving overdose antidote Narcan.
[Clip]
For nearly 30 years, Judi Moore has worked as branch manager and children’s librarian at McPherson, which serves the drug-ravaged neighborhood around Kensington and Indiana Avenues. Her desk offers a gunpoint vantage.
Until last year, she recalls just one overdose in the library. Then heroin exploded. Since then, there have four overdoses in her building. None has been fatal.
[Clip]
While other libraries practice fire drills, McPherson began overdose drills:
Who stays with the victim? Who calls 911? Who ushers out the kids? Who waits for an ambulance?

Read the Complete Article
See Also: New York: Overdose at the Rochester Public library: Should Workers be Trained to use Heroin Antidote?
See Also: Colorado: An “Unprecedented Rise in Security-Related Incidents and Illegal Behavior” at Denver’s Central Library

Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries