Librarians Respond to the Opioid Crisis

Posted by Carolyn Martin on June 27th, 2017 Posted in: News from NLM, Public Health, Public Libraries

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The information below is from the Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC)

“Long viewed as guardians of safe spaces for children, library staff members have begun taking on the role of first responder in drug overdoses,” CNN reported last week (“The opioid epidemic is so bad that librarians are learning how to treat overdoses,” by Darran Simon, June 23, 2017).  American Libraries also recently reported on the same issue (“Saving lives in the stacks: how libraries are handling the opioid crisis,” by Anne Ford, June 21, 2017).

Though the severity of the current crisis is shocking, it is not surprising to find public librarians supporting the needs of their communities.

The National Library of Medicine has compiled resources to assist librarians and other first responders to ensure that they understand the complex legal and medical issues this crisis presents:

• Searching the Disaster Lit® database for ‘opioid’ retrieves guidelines, training material, reports, fact sheets, conference proceedings, and congressional testimony.

• A report by the RWJF Network for Public Health Law describes overdose Good Samaritan laws in each state, as well as state laws about access to naloxone, the drug used to treat overdose victims.

• The Department of Justice developed a briefing guide for first responders about fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic. The high potency of opioids such as fentanyl has put responders at increased risk; e.g., a police officer in Ohio overdosed after brushing fentanyl residue from his clothes.

• MedlinePlus has a good overview of opioid abuse and addiction and links to many additional resources.

Discover other ways librarians respond to disasters and emergencies with the NLM Disaster Health bibliography, and stay tuned for more information later this summer about an NLM Disaster Health webinar on this topic.