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.
Without a standard, objective-based assessment of patient sobriety levels, situations may arise that test the limits of EMS personnel
Our co-hosts respond to a listener’s email regarding where medical marijuana fits into public safety, especially EMS
Doctors are prescribing gabapentin more often because of its non-addictive properties, but officials are finding signs of abuse that exacerbate opioid abuse
The patient voluntarily entered the ambulance, but began fighting with providers, showed signs of distress and died as CPR was administered during transport
Paramedic services were suspended in May due to a lack of a coordinator, expired medications found on ambulances and lapses in drug record-keeping procedures
The driver who crashed a van carrying vacation Bible school students into a freight train at a rail crossing told paramedics she had been taking Vicodin and Adderall all day
Statewide, there have been more than 1,900 emergency department visits from April through June alone, prompting an existing list of banned substances to include new chemical compounds
He was sentenced to seven years of probation and required to quit the EMS service
Gov. Maggie Hassan said declaring a public health emergency would not allow the state to redirect a federal grant or fund ways to remove the drug from the streets
The EMT is suspected of stealing money and medication from the purses and wallets of colleagues
To combat the heroin epidemic, firefighters developed “your life matters” cards with help line numbers for addicts they treat
With overdose deaths on the rise, town officials are considering an education and treatment program to combat opiate use
Police used a Taser to subdue the man, who kicked a medic in the head and punched and bit officers
Suspected overdose calls increased 106 percent from 339 in 2013 to 700 in 2014, and another 31 percent to 918 through July
Plantation Fire Rescue administers powerful sedative to suspected flakka users to calm them down for the safety of all involved
The EMT has been charged with second-degree manslaughter after allegedly driving an ambulance under the influence and hitting a group of teens on bicycles, killing one of them
Legislation and regulatory change has made it is possible for cops, parents, teachers, and friends of addicts to obtain naloxone; this is what you need to know before you buy a kit
A gofundme.com account will help pay for defense expenses for an off-duty medic who hit a parked car with an ambulance when responding to a call
Emergency Marijuana Service owns 15 trucks for selling marijuana lollipops across the US
The Minn. man received three years of probation for “leaving vulnerable patients without the medicine they needed”
The collision happened Saturday when an alleged drunken driver plowed into the limo as it left a NY vineyard tour
Both children, in separate incidents, died from acute intoxication of heroin mixed with fentanyl
The man ran into a Fla. police station saying he took bad drugs, jumped from an ambulance and tried to break into homes
The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of drugs he obtained for himself and five friends to share at a music festival
The paramedics turned on the ambulance’s emergency lights in an effort to get the vehicle off the road before a crash occurred
Host Chris Cebollero talks about the toll heroin is taking on a friend’s daughter and a report from the CDC that says heroin use doubled in two years
Officers were diverted from a domestic violence call to respond to the scene of the false crash
New research reveals why heroin overdose deaths doubled in two years, and the need for increased use of naloxone
He responded to a 1 a.m. call for a struggling swimmer and during the incident he drove the ambulance a short distance and hit a parked car
AMR partnered with law enforcement as part of a pilot program to increase safety and save time by doing blood draws at jail instead of a local hospital
Sean Patrick Farnand, 46, a paramedic captain, was fired after coming to work with bloodshot eyes and breath smelling of alcohol
There is much we don’t know about how TXA works and its role in reducing mortality from severe hemorrhage
