Author Beth Macy will make a stop at Shenandoah University to speak about the opioid crisis as part of a 30-stop book tour.
The discussion will start at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in Stimpson Auditorium in Halpin-Harrison Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Macy’s third book, “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America,” examines the roots of the opioid epidemic and its devastating effects and shows how everyone from the unemployed to the privileged have been affected by the crisis. “Dopesick” climbed as high as No. 5 on The New York Times Best Sellers List for Nonfiction.
Following the presentation at about 8 p.m., Kathleen Eid-Heberle, MSN, RN, director at SU’s Scholar Plaza campus in Loudoun and assistant professor at the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing, will present a 30-minute overview of the signs and symptoms of opioid overdose. She will also demonstrate the administration of Narcan. Her presentation is a collaboration with the Loudoun County and City of Winchester health departments.
“It is imperative that both medical and non-medical people understand the magnitude of the opioid crisis and its devastating effect on individuals, families and communities,” Eid-Heberle said. “By recognizing the signs and symptoms of opioid overdose and learning lifesaving interventions, we can hopefully begin to reduce the death toll associated with this epidemic.”
Macy will sign copies of her book in the lobby of Stimpson Auditorium following the Narcan demonstration. Books will be available for purchase from The Winchester Book Gallery, which is co-sponsoring the event.
Macy visited Winchester in 2016 to speak about her first book, “Factory Man,” which was the One Book One Community selection that year.
For more information, contact Becky Layne at rlayne@su.edu or 610-608-6586.