Presented by Dr Ingrid van Beek AM, Tony Jackson and Dr Karen Chronister. Dr Marianne Jauncey, Medical Director at the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre Dr Jauncey is a Public Health Physician and has worked in the drug and alcohol field since the late 1990s.

Presentation Synopsis A growing number of countries have initiated ‘peer naloxone distribution’ programs over the past decade to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with opioid overdose. The Kirketon Road Centre in Kings Cross and the Langton Centre in Surry Hills commenced the state’s first program, known as the OPEN (overdose prevention and emergency naloxone) Project, in 2012. This Project involves training people who inject opioids in the prevention, recognition and emergency treatment of opioid overdose, including the intramuscular administration of naloxone HCl. The presenters will discuss the background rationale for the OPEN Project, and their experience so far, also reporting preliminary results of its evaluation to date. They also look forward to discussing the potential role of the ambulance service in such initiatives.