Robert W. Amler, dean of the New York Medical College”™s School of Health Sciences and Practice and the college”™s vice president for government affairs, was among the 200 community, educational, and government leaders who gathered at the Westchester County Center on June 7 to begin an initiative to combat opioid abuse. It”™s called “Westchester Opioid Response Teams Helping You (WORTHY).”
Previously, NYMC committed to helping combat the dangers of opioid overdoses by training students to recognize the signs and symptoms of an opioid or heroin overdose and teaching how to administer the life-saving drug Narcan.
From 2010 to 2015, annual deaths from opioid overdoses in Westchester increased more than 200 percent according to the county.
Westchester County Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler, who also is an associate professor at NYMC and married to Robert Amler, told the gathering, “There is no room on the sidelines in the fight against opiate addiction”¦.We need the help of our partners to change the lives of the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters with opiate addictions.”