Substance Use Disorders
This section provides EMS professionals with resources and training focused on identifying, managing and responding to patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). Articles cover recognition of drug and alcohol use in the field, treatment best practices, harm reduction strategies, and the evolving role of EMS in the opioid crisis. Learn how to address provider safety, compassion fatigue and stigma, while improving patient outcomes through evidence-based care and community partnerships.
Focusing on observed behavior will help protect both the individuals needing assistance and the officers responding to the situation
Chief David Lewis and Kyle Gaines join the podcast to discuss a successful MIH initiative getting patients to treatment counselors
Reach out for help today so you can fill your cup and continue providing the outstanding care your patients deserve
Matthew Hooker was arrested for stealing two doses of morphine and forging his partner’s signature as a witness
Using data, AMR can position ambulances accordingly and reduce the response time from the moment they get the call to administering Narcan to the patient
The airline will begin carrying naloxone in medical kits after a passenger was found in the bathroom unresponsive
A Delta passenger took to social media to ask the airline to start carrying the overdose drug to prevent this situation from happening again
Attacks on EMS providers by the very people we are trying to help are becoming all too common: Review your safety practices and training
Jon Cinelli came under investigation after officials observed him allegedly violating regulations that required two paramedics to empty the drug drop-off box
Organizations are combating overdoses with outpatient treatment, medication-assisted treatment, and inpatient residential treatment
A case study in opioid overdose complications, management strategies and provider safety
Jackson County EMS’s cardiac arrest and STEMI protocols demonstrate how leadership and front-line crews can come together to save lives
Authorities have not named a suspect at this time and officials said it is not clear how anyone gained access to the narcotics
The Santa Fe County’s new harm-reduction unit aims to provide access to treatment, education and the necessary drugs before they become a statistic
Mahliyah crawled back into the car, where she saw that the younger child’s head was bleeding, and lifted her out of her seat and through the trunk to safety
Jerome Anthony Burke, 52, put up a fight after mistaking one of the EMS personnel for the manager of the store who kicked him out earlier that day
A new Florida law will give paramedics responding to situations deemed as high-risk the ability to carry more than medical supplies
A woman pleaded with an EMT after stopping at Cabell County EMS to give her dog, Charlie Boy, naloxone to prevent a fatal overdose after he ate OxyContin
Police charged Troy Darin Kendall, Jr. with aggravated assault, disorderly conduct and harassment
A.J. Isaacs was an EMS captain and had been with the fire department for 25 years before dying of an overdose
New Jersey’s Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal approved the state’s 21 mobile intensive care units carry the drug to reduce overdose deaths
Port Jervis Fire Department Firefighter Nicholas McKeon was sleeping in front of the bay doors and was killed after being struck by an ambulance responding to a call
Lawyers representing the plaintiffs across the country laid out a framework for negotiating a settlement, which could mean these communities getting billions of dollars to split
The coalition collaborates with entities throughout the community, including churches, government agencies, health care providers, law enforcement and nonprofit organizations
BLS and law enforcement naloxone administration improves already stretched EMS systems management of increased opioid overdoses
Nearly 23,000 people in Maryland have been certified to dispense naloxone and reported administering it more than 600 times since a 2013 law expanded access beyond medical professionals, according to health officials
In 2018, San Francisco paramedics administered naloxone to 1,647 people, up from 980 two years earlier, according to numbers from the city’s emergency response system
Researchers have found the Miami-Dade program has discarded 11,000 more needles than it gave out and reversed 1,304 overdoses
The prosecutor described a scene that quickly changed from a routine medical call to a chaotic, dangerous situation with multiple shots being fired by Houston and by officers trying to deal with the threat he posed
The training will enable California EMTs to administer and use naloxone, epinephrine and a glucometer, according to the California Emergency Medical Services Authority
The new AR-2 EMS unit team includes two paramedics, two case managers, one social worker and an epidemiologist
Separating fact from fiction on the opioid crisis, fentanyl and its derivatives, and community paramedicine initiatives
Treat acute cardiac syndrome patients with the appropriate order of operations, and consider when traditional treatments may be contraindicated