A Charleston County Public Library employee was recognized by Charleston County Council for helping save a patron's life by using Narcan spray, a medication to treat narcotic overdoses.
On July 9, 2024, a man was found unresponsive at the Keith Summey North Charleston Library. The branch manager, Von Yeager, administered the spray to the man. The man remained unresponsive and Yeager administered a second dose, as he had been trained. After the second dose, the man became responsive and EMS arrived on the scene and treated the patient.
Yeager recently receive Narcan training from the Charleston Center. The Narcan was accessible inside the library's Opioid Rescue Kit, provided by the Charleston Center through a partnership that launched in May.
Charleston Center applied for the opioid settlement funds, which were awarded to them and used partly to collaborate with CCPL to provide opioid rescue kits to all 18 library branches. The kits include doses of Narcan, a disposable CPR mask, and instruction manuals, which are accessible to the public. The boxes were installed at all the libraries and training was provided to staff members in the system. Additionally, funds were provided to purchase books for teens and adults that focus on drug prevention that are being distributed to community members who attend special programs at select library branches.
Learn more about this initiative here.
Photo Left to Right: John Walden (CCPL), Von Yeager (CCPL), Kelley Grobmyer (Charleston Center), Sarah Halse (Charleston Center) and Chanda Funcell (Charleston Center), Natalie C. Hauff (CCPL).