PORTLAND, Maine — As the opioid crisis continues across Maine and throughout the country, the city of Portland is working to make sure as many citizens as possible are ready to respond.
Starting Wednesday, February 5, a weekly training will be hosted at the India Street Public Health Center in Portland. That training is open to walk ins, and begins at 4:30 P.M. at no cost.
The training will include overdose recognition and response training and naloxone distribution, which is commonly known as narcan, that can treat symptoms of an overdose.
The program is operated through Portland's public health division, and will be operated by the the Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction Services team, with support from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
This training comes just days after the Maine CDC reported 10 overdoses over the weekend connected to contaminated drugs in Cumberland County.
"We've been wanting to do this for a while, but especially since there's been a recent increase of overdoses in our community, it was important to have regular consistent access at our location here at India St," said Zoe Brokos, the program coordinator of the Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction Services for the City of Portland.
This training opportunity is designed to be low-barrier and educational, for community members interested in learning the risk factors for an opioid overdose, how to recognize an overdose, and how to appropriately respond by calling 911 and administering naloxone.