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.
How to apply for grant funding for naloxone and opioid-reversal interventions and more
Reflecting on the pain of 10 killed in a hate-driven shooting, 100,000 dead of drug overdoses and 1 million lost to COVID-19
Charleston leaders have raised concerns over dirty needles in public places that are “flipped around like cigarette butts”
Data suggests the tide of opioid overdoses is starting to turn in a number of states, driving an overall reduction in overdose deaths
A recent incident in which a rescue worker needed treatment for possible exposure to an opioid prompted the move
The ER at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center has decreased opioid prescriptions by 58 percent through their alternative program
911 dispatcher Jenna Bixby died after retired minister Richard Shaka hit her vehicle while driving the wrong way down the road
This issue features articles on the opioid epidemic’s impact on responders and how EMS is leading the charge in the post-overdose survival phase of the addiction cycle
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration classified kratom as a dangerous opioid, prompting backlash from scientists who claim it can relieve pain
Police said Jenna Morasca bit an officer while in an ambulance after she was found unconscious in her running parked car
New Mexico had one of the highest overdose rates in the nation for the better part of two decades
An advance-practice nurse at the center said Melissa Tackett had falsified her signature on two scripts for the opioids
Carfentanil has become a key topic for health officials and law enforcement who work to combat this synthetic opioid’s responsibility for addiction and death that continues to rise.
The city’s EMS bureau last month became one of the first in Pennsylvania to implement a naloxone leave-behind program
Police said Jose Duran Romero’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, and he had bloodshot, glassy eyes at the time of the crash
The lawsuit alleges that The Recovery Center and four of its owners defrauded Medicaid by claiming it offered patients medical advice
Attorney General Jeff Sessions thinks the U.S. could easily combat the growing opioid crisis by taking over-the-counter medications for pain and “tough it out.”
The Food and Drug Administration said the herbal supplement kratom could be banned by the federal government
Santa Rosa Police Resource Officer Dan Jones said students will often turn themselves in when feeling negative side effects of the drugs
“The problem with the rumors: One, it causes this hysteria. And, two, it makes it difficult for us to get past the stigma,” Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan said
The state, who pays for the $70 kits, will now only hand them out to people most likely to find an overdose victim
Two Charlotte-area counties became the latest local governments to join a massive federal lawsuit against the producers and distributors of opioids
Virtual reality, neural feedback and digital therapy were among five ideas to help solve the U.S. opioid crisis
A report links fentanyl use with a particular form of sudden amnesia that produces distinctive results noted in brain scans
AMR paramedic Tim Hoffman returned to work after being struck by a suspected drunk driver in 2016
Joseph Comstock was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison as part of a plea agreement
Medline Industries developed the fentanyl-resistant gloves for responders to wear when treating overdose patients
Medicaid has begun paying for additional services and treatment options for low-income addicts, including screenings, methadone and naloxone
Departments are scrambling for ways to protect their first responders and identify the powders and pills they encounter on the scenes of overdoses and crimes
The Best Documentary Short Subject nominee follows three women who are fighting the opioid epidemic in Huntington, West Virginia
The proposal bars doctors from prescribing more than an initial five-day supply of pain meds and will help uninsured and underinsured people get addiction treatment
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