Conn. Library Receives $10K Grant for Naloxone Training

The Hartford Courant

Librarians in Hartford will join the ranks of city employees both trained and armed with the lifesaving opioid reversal drug naloxone with the help of a $10,000 grant from the Cigna Foundation.

The grant comes as Hartford and the rest of Connecticut remains gripped by a years-long opioid epidemic that officials say has touched all manner of people.

"As a public institution, we see that our entire community is impacted by the opioid crisis; it was clear that a rapid and robust response to the problems caused by the opioid drug crisis was imperative," said library CEO Bridget Quinn-Carey in a statement announcing the grant.

"Hartford police, fire and ambulance personnel have been wonderful in helping us deal with overdose situations, but we also want to be ready for instances when emergency services cannot arrive in time."

Officials with the library said they came up with a plan to address the issue of opioid overdoses last November that factors in both response and prevention.

"Libraries like HPL are increasingly innovating around health education. We are proud to support this potentially life-saving initiative and commend HPL for its efforts to battle substance use disorders in our communities," said Mary Engvall, executive director of the Cigna Foundation, in a statement.

The money, officials said, will go both to train staff and provide naloxone and CPR supplies.
Ambulance services in the city have long carried naloxone, used to reverse the potentially lethal effects of an opioid overdose, but as the death toll from heroin and fentanyl increased in recent years, firefighters and police officers have also been provided the drug.

Library officials said they plan also to provide opioid abuse awareness materials in all the city library locations and with work with the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition to host education sessions and information forums.