Vaping workshop will educate employers

MIDDLETOWN — The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce is offering a free event following its March 16 member breakfast at the Sheraton Hartford South Hotel.

“The Vaping Epidemic, The Truth and Consequences” will be offered after guest speaker UConn Head Women’s Basketball Coach Geno Auriemma delivers his keynote speech.

The event is also presented by the city of Middletown and Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council, and will run from 9:15 until 11 a.m. at 100 Capital Boulevard, Rocky Hill, according to a press release.

Barbara Walsh from the state Department of Public Health will open the presentation by providing general information on the effects of vaping. Dr. Michael Kalinowski from the Durham

Middlefield Local Wellness Coalition will then speak on the negative health effects of vaping in the workplace.

Erica Skoutas from Hartford HealthCare Rushford Center will present vaping devices and other paraphernalia. Her presentation will increase the awareness of what e-cigarette and vaping devices look like, and potential ways for workers to hide their addictions. She will also share smoking cessation resources available for those looking to quit, the release said.

“I want to thank Kevin Elak from the city of Middletown Health Department for providing us with support for this event. The chamber plans on having two more vaping workshops in the upper and lower valley,” Chamber President Larry McHugh said in a prepared statement.

Walsh is the program manager for the Connecticut

Tobacco Control Program funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, working to reduce tobacco use in Connecticut residents to improve health, according to the release.

The program promotes tobacco-free lifestyles. That includes helping tobacco users to quit, and preventing people from starting to use tobacco, especially through policy and system changes.

Kalinowski is a family physician who has a professional focus and passion for disease prevention through community education and lifestyle medicine approaches. He has a personal commitment to the prevention of smoking and vaping, having lost multiple family members to lung cancer.

Skoutas is a prevention professional at Rushford Center, a nationally certified mental health first aid instructor and chairwoman of the Middletown Substance Abuse Prevention Council.

Her primary focus is on reducing and preventing substance use and its related problems among youth. Skoutas is an adviser to middle school and high school youth peer leadership groups, and works with youth leaders throughout the community to increase the awareness of risks associated with youth substance use and promote mental wellness.

For information, visit middlesexchamber.com.

Craig Mitchelldyer / Associated Press A woman exhales while vaping from a Juul pen e-cigarette.