Baltimore City committee reviews readiness to colocate naloxone with AEDs in public buildings

The Baltimore City Council’s Public Health and Environment Committee held an informational hearing on council resolution 25-005R about making naloxone available in public buildings and heard agency updates on the city’s readiness to comply with a 2024 Maryland law that requires naloxone colocated with automated external defibrillators in certain public sites.

Councilman Mark Conway, sponsor of the resolution, said the measure is a life‑saving step in Baltimore’s opioid response. “Naloxone is one of the most effective tools that we have at the ready, and it has the ability to turn tragedy to triumph and a second chance,” Conway said, urging the city to lead in training, signage and stock maintenance.

Tyler Schnella, a representative from the mayor’s office who briefed the committee on state implementation, said the state — not local governments — is responsible for rolling out the program under the statute. “Both the city’s law department and the Maryland Association of Counties have reviewed the law and concluded that responsibility for implementation rests with the state of Maryland, specifically the EMS Board in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health,” Schnella said. He told the committee the program will be funded from state opioid restitution funds and that the state has ordered naloxone supply and is preparing to begin implementation.

Nut graf: The session focused on practical steps Baltimore must…