SMART’s Director of Partner Services and Operations, and overdose prevention volunteer, Ann-Marie Reid Richardson

April 22, 2016 – Brown University School of Medicine recently hosted inter-professional training meetings to address overdose prevention methods.  This event brought together students to provide instruction and facilitate overdose response practice groups. One important overdose prevention method being taught is the administration of naloxone.

SMART’s  Director of Partner Services and Operations, Ann-Marie Reid Richardson has been volunteering with Rhode Island Medical Reserve Corps and NOPE-RI since 2009. For this gathering she provided naloxone training for attendees and participating organizations; The RI MRC / NOPE-RI, The Drug and Overdose Prevention & Rescue Coalition, in addition to Rhode Island College, University of Rhode Island, and Brown University Medical School. Multidisciplinary teams of medical students, pharmacy students, and nursing students were educated on recognizing the symptoms of overdose, how to prevent overdose, and how to revive victims of overdose until emergency medical care can be administered. When asked why she volunteers Ann-Marie said, “Participating and volunteering keeps me involved in the communities directly served by our partners. It is my way of giving back.”

The past few years have generated the largest number of fatal overdoses in our nation’s history. SMART is proud to support volunteer efforts that positively contribute to the recovery from the ongoing opiate epidemic.