PORTLAND — The Portland Rotary Club will host a special program, “Recognizing and Responding to an Opiate/Heroin Overdose,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24.

The free, public session will be held in the Dana Center Auditorium at Maine Medical Center, 22 Bramhall St. It will include experts sharing information about the opioid epidemic and how to recognize and respond to an overdose.

The Rotary Club has started a Recovery Initiative Committee, which is working in partnership with the city’s Overdose Prevention Project, and has conducted recovery coach training to help people with substance use disorder get treatment and support during the recovery process.