As the opioid pill and heroin use crisis has swept across the US, libraries are now dealing with the fact that opiate addicts are using the stacks, restrooms, and building exteriors to use their drugs or leave their remnants behind. Overdoses in library restrooms are now a common reality. Some libraries have trained their employees to administer Narcan, an opioid antagonist sprayed into the nose of a suspected overdose patient. Other libraries struggle with what to do with drug residue, needles, and related heroin-use paraphernalia left in the restrooms, book droops, and the stacks. This issue is both a public health crisis and a danger to library staffers and other patrons who come across erratic heroin users either in withdrawal or near death in their facilities.
Through this webinar, you will learn how to:
• Recognize the tremendous increase in opiate overdose problems in this country and why libraries are not immune to the issue.
• Recognize opiate use abuse in patrons - from a legal and medical perspective.
• Know the differences between alcohol use, drug use, poly-drug use, and opiate drug use and withdrawal symptoms in patrons.• Know when opiate use by patrons is a police issue versus a paramedics response.
• Discuss when and if Narcan use by library staff on opiate overdoes patrons may be a necessity.
• Deal with the safety hazards related to opiate users, their drugs, and drug paraphernalia, including needles.
Opiate Users in Our Libraries: Safe and Effective Responses to a National Issue
As a trainer, speaker, author, and consultant, Dr. Steve Albrecht is internationally known for his expertise in high-risk HR issues. He specializes in workplace and school violence awareness and crisis response programs for private-sector firms, municipal and state government, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities.
In 1994, Dr. Albrecht co-wrote Ticking Bombs: Defusing Violence in the Workplace, one of the first business books on workplace violence. Besides his work as a conference presenter and keynote speaker, he appears in the media and on the Internet, as a source on workplace violence, security, and crime. His 21 business and police books include Library Security; Tough Training Topics; Added Value Negotiating; Service, Service, Service!; and Fear and Violence on the Job.
He holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration (D.B.A.), an M.A. in Security Management, a B.A. in English, and a B.S. in Psychology. He is board certified in HR, security management, employee coaching, and threat assessment.
