Law Enforcement, EMS Trained on Campus in Overdose Prevention

Published 08.29.2016

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Yaw, who also chairs the Penn College Board of Directors, welcomes attendees to an Overdose Prevention Seminar in the Student and Administrative Service Center.

Dr. Levine discusses the importance of naxolone – which reverses the fatal effects of an opioid drug overdose – in battling "the worst public health crisis in Pennsylvania." Among others on the panel are Lancaster Police Chief Dave Steffen (left) and Tennis.

Local law enforcement, emergency medical personnel, fire departments and school district officials were among those attending the session, which followed a similar event in Bradford County.

To help save lives and combat the growing heroin and opioid epidemic facing Pennsylvania, state Sen. Gene Yaw held two Overdose Prevention Seminars in his 23rd Senatorial District on Monday – including one on Penn College's main campus. Among the speakers were Gary Tennis, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol, and Dr. Rachel Levine, state physician general, who offered free training to police officers and firefighters in the administration of naxalone (a life-saving antidote) at the scene of an overdose. Presentations also featured warning signs of addiction, available treatment options, and personal and professional stories of recovery.