Md. Librarian Saves Man Who Overdoses In Bathroom
GLEN BURNIE, Md. (WJZ)-- A librarian in Anne Arundel County is highlighting the importance of Narcan training as the intensifying opioid crisis came to the doorstep of a Glen Burnie Library.
The overdose happened in the bathroom of this Glen Burnie library. What happened next was a team effort that saved a life.
At the Glen Burnie Regional Library you'll find a computer lab and thousands of books on many shelves.
But on one shelf in the back is Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal drug many staff members are trained to administer.
"I have a family connection, who will be a recovering addict forever," librarian Brian Oberle said. "So it's very personal to me. And when this opportunity came up, I took it."
For Oberle, a scout leader well-versed in first aid, the decision was simple.
More than 150 people in Anne Arundel County died from opioid overdoses just last year.
But last week, the crisis came to the library doorstep, when a visitor discovered a man on the floor of the library restroom.
Oberle and other trained staff noticed his pin-pointed pupils and gargled breathing. All symptoms of a heroin overdose.
"By the time I called for the Narcan, staff had already called 911, so they were on the way. and somebody, I think it was seconds before somebody handed me the Narcan, because they had already retrieved it," Oberle said.
Oberle administered the life-saving drug as police officers rushed in.
"I'm just this guy. I took some training, I put it to use. You fall back on the training."
The Anne Arundel County Department of Health is hosting more training sessions this month and next month and will be giving free Naloxone kits to trainees.
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