A Paramedic’s Dispatches From the Front Line of the Opioid Epidemic

Join us for a book talk with Hartford paramedic Peter Canning, author of Killing Season: A Paramedic’s Dispatches From the Front Line of the Opioid Epidemic.

In April 2021, Canning released Killing Season: A Paramedic’s Dispatches From the Front Line of the Opioid Epidemic. A paramedic on the streets of Hartford for over 25 years, Canning has seen the impact of prescription painkillers, heroin, and the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl firsthand. He tells how he once believed drug users were victims only of their own character flaws, but once he began asking his patients how they had gotten started on their perilous journeys, their heart-rending stories changed Canning’s view. Now armed with an understanding of the science of addiction, he fights against the stigmatization of users and now supports harm reduction, which advocates for needle exchange, community naloxone, and safe-injection sites, and argues for a stronger public heath response to the epidemic that claims over 100,000 American lives a year, including 1,400 in Connecticut.

$8 for CHS members, $10 for non-members. Light refreshments will be served. Tickets can be purchased online (10% discount for online ticket purchase) or at the door.

Questions? Call (860) 236-5621 x289, or email Natalie_Belanger@chs.org.