Philadelphia Medicine Summer 2019 - 29

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AT ANNUAL MEETING,

PCMS BLOCK CAPTAINS
LEARN HOW TO USE NALOXONE
By: Eileen Ryan, CPMSM
Director, PCMS Membership & Programming

T

he annual meeting of PCMS's Block
Captain Health Care Advisory Council had a show and tell demonstration
on a technique that has saved thousands of
opioid overdose victims in this country.

At the packed house at the PCMS headquarters on June 12, Priya Mammen, MD,
MPH, from the Lindy Institute for Urban
Innovation at Drexel University and Annie
Brogan from the Philadelphia Department of
Public Health Division of Substance Abuse and Harm Reduction,
demonstrated to dozens of block captains how to use naloxone.
Community leaders at the meeting provided an update on
caregiver resources. David J. Johnson, advocate for Community
Health Choices for (CARIE) the Center for Advocacy for the Rights
and Interests of the Elderly, and Jean Janik and Cheryl Clark from
the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, answered questions from
the block captains and provided additional resource information.
Chad Thomas, MPH, PMP, communications outreach coordinator for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health Bioterrorism
and Public Health Preparedness Program, gave an update regarding
his department's programs and resources.
Sharon Graham, MA, deputy regional administrator, Division
of Medicare Health Plan Operations, Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, provided helpful tips on how to avoid fraud,
and gave a Medicare update.
The Philadelphia County Medical Society has led the community
Block Captain Health Care Advisory Council since 1998. Today,
it is under the able guidance of its chair, Walter Tsou, MD, the
current PCMS president, James L. Cristol, MD, and the cooperation
of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health; the volunteer
physician members of the PCMS Public Health Committee, and
numerous Philadelphia health care organizations including the
Philadelphia Corporation on Aging. They all work together to
help PCMS educate our Philadelphia Block Captains and their
neighbors regarding how to access quality health care, identify the
neighborhoods where the most help is needed, and increase the
visibility and accessibility of PCMS in the community.
If you would like more information on the PCMS Block
Captain Health Care Advisory Council, please contact PCMS at
(215) 563-5343 X 113. *

Summer 2019 : Philadelphia Medicine 29
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Philadelphia Medicine Summer 2019

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