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.
Is your agency in compliance with requirements? How can you protect yourself and your staff from the fallout of drug diversion?
The program aims for nurses to work alongside police officers to assist individuals struggling with substance use disorders and mental health
Ensuring equitable treatment for all communities begins with understanding how unintentional racism can produce racist outcomes in EMS
EMS records show Nathanial Rhodes was taken to the police station instead of the hospital after a vehicle crash, where body cam footage shows him collapsing
Rotating pharmaceutical stock, and exploring alternative pain management and expired drug options can mitigate EMS drug shortages
Researchers found that the FDA and opioid manufacturers failed to monitor the restricted use of a powerful type of fentanyl even after problems were discovered
NH Project FIRST enlists “quick response teams” to return after an overdose call and offer to connect individuals with services at their local treatment hub
Opioid deaths decreased 4 percent, from 2,056 in 2017 to 1,974 deaths last year, according to the latest quarterly report
Natacha Davis stood before 300 first responders and told them how the caring she found at a fire station helped her to finally overcome her addiction
Dr. Donald Hinderliter allegedly prescribed 832,994 pills to 462 patients over two years, averaging 1,803 pills per patient
Terry Ramsay allegedly suffered a heroin overdose and struck a New Hanover Regional Medical Center ambulance transporting a patient
Consider a variety of funding sources and make your case for why you need it, how you plan to use it and who will benefit
A program to safely dispose of unwanted medication is expanding with the aim of helping curb prescription drug abuse and overdoses
Wilmington’s quick response team consists of a group of health experts who contact overdose survivors in an effort to direct them toward treatment
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said they captured nearly 254 pounds of the deadly synthetic opioid from a load of Mexican produce
Manufactured, concocted and blended opioids require EMS training, PPE and decontamination strategies
Clark County Commissioner Melanie Flax Wilt said “a coordination of efforts among many different agencies” has helped decrease the number of fatal overdoses
Harness a passion for care to identify improvement opportunities in clinical specialty areas and propose change
New protocol virtually did away with pain pumps, devices that allow patients to dose themselves with morphine after surgery
Thirteen people at the same party overdosed all at once, making it one of the worst mass overdose events in Northern California since the opioid crisis hit
Health officials are advising people who use drugs to have naloxone on hand, which can be obtained at needle exchanges and other locations
Kootenai County EMS Chief Chris Way said the ambulance, which was designed with safety in mind, “did its job” after a drunk driver crashed into it
Greenboro’s GCSTOP prevents repeat overdoses by counseling “persistent users to enter treatment or adopt evidence-based harm-reduction practices”
The National Safety Council found that the odds of dying from an accidental opioid overdose were 1 in 96
Chico police Chief Mike O’Brien said the mass overdose appears to have been largely caused by the dangerous opioid fentanyl
Christopher Hartley was arrested on a child-neglect charge after an 11-month-old ingested his heroin and Xanax pills
Two doctors have had their licenses suspended after working together to sell prescriptions through an insurance company they created
A “Health of the City” report found that overdoses outstripped all other causes of death except for heart disease and cancer in 2017
Huntington Fire Department Chief Jan Rader discusses her community’s unique approach to decreasing opioid overdoses
Attorney General Chris Carr filed a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors for their alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis
Nearly 50,000 drug-exposed infants have been born in California since 2000
Our co-hosts continue their discussion with EMS1 columnist and defense attorney David Givot on the impact medical marijuana has in EMS
Three passengers were being transported by a ride-share driver when they spotted a parked ambulance and asked the driver to pull over
