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.
A typical shift during the pandemic highlights the uncertainty faced by first responders
The clinical decline in patients with HCQ toxicity can be quite precipitous: be prepared with close cardiac monitoring
While preliminary data shows no significant change in overdose numbers, one agency describes how stay-at-home orders have impacted overdose locations and outreach efforts
Extrapolating the consequences of a policy limiting opioid overdose treatment that goes against the foundation of EMS
Public policy debate, reduced access to prescription narcotics and societal desire to make real change are needed to confront the deadly opioid epidemic
Douglas Adkins said no new method has been adopted and responders will continue to render aid
The street pill disguised as the painkiller Percocet could be linked to the deaths of as many as four people
A proposal to withhold treatment from opioid overdose patients shows the epidemic’s continuing stress on EMS providers and its strain on municipal budgets
Fire-Rescue International conference speakers discuss the magnitude of the epidemic and the challenges it presents for the fire and EMS service
Responders arrived after the woman’s boyfriend called 911 and the baby was born in the driveway
A census sheet of the body count shows 24 days in May when more than 20 bodies were stored at the morgue
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley sued three top U.S. opioid drugmakers for consumer fraud
If an overdose victim has not performed community service on their third overdose, then responders would not be dispatched to the call
This vicious cycle experienced by many addicts has added a new facet to Ohio’s grim war against opioid abuse: compassion fatigue
Adam Shay was the first of 19 drug overdose victims to donate organs in Ohio in 2014
Regan Nichols is accused of prescribing controlled dangerous substances to patients without a legitimate medical need
Steve Sundquist said he has been sober since enrolling in a 75-day treatment program
The bills would limit the amount of opioids that can be prescribed and require a “bona fide” physician-patient relationship to dispense drugs
More than 250 first responder agencies, public health departments and qualifying non-profit community groups across 35 states, have received donated EVZIO Auto-injectors
The city is on track to spend $100,000 on naloxone in 2017, despite a budget of $10,000
Only 27 percent were given buprenorphine or naltrexone during 2001 to 2014, years when addiction was soaring
The city is running low on naloxone due to an increase in overdoses; officials said they need funding for more supplies
Users who inject it are in danger of overdose, but so are paramedics who inhale it or get it on their skin
In China, U-47700 has until now been a legal alternative to fentanyl and potent derivatives like carfentanil
Officials said opioids are the main cause behind the jump in fatalities
Police said they found two cans of Redd’s Wicked Apple Ale in the front seat of his car
While narcotics can bring short-term pain relief, they’re often misprescribed
Authorities said the drugs are “extremely scary” and are made solely for the illicit market
Officials think the money would be better spent on local EMTs who respond to the opioid overdoses
Authorities said Genero Ajqui was drunk when he crashed into an ambulance and killed Lahiri Garcia and Paul Besaw
Responders found a car had driven through a fence and struck a student
Officials said the gloves may allow absorption into the person’s tissue, turning the responder into a victim
The drug has already killed several and hospitalized dozens
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