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.
The President’s declaration of a “National Public Health Emergency” falls well short of tackling the scourge of opioid overdose deaths
Following on White House special commission recommendations, Trump announces a national public health emergency for the opioid emergency
Our co-hosts talk about an opioid panel discussion, sponsored by EMS1 and BoundTree, at EMS World Expo 2017
A teaspoon of the powder is equivalent to 25 cups of coffee; the agency is considering regulations after an Ohio teen consumed a lethal amount
He was arrested after detectives made an undercover purchase, and he was found with 180 opiate pills
He was hired part-time as a “controlled substance agent” to help a fire department ALS provider meet a state mandate that requires all EMTs have the ability to administer narcotics
His house was under surveillance as part of a DEA drug sting; he faces two felony charges
He refused to leave and shoved an officer as police, firefighters and EMS workers treated an unresponsive woman in a Pa. bathroom
Starting July 1, 2,000 firefighters and EMTs will join the 905 medics able to administer intranasal Naloxone
Three dozen were transported to the hospital and 50 more were treated on the scene of an electronic music show featuring Swedish DJ Avicii
Gregory Light was off duty at the time; he worked as a firefighter for 27 years and helped train EMTs and paramedics
The state is scrambling to put procedures in place, and passed a good Samaritan law that allows a bystander to administer Narcan to someone who has overdosed
Police tried to file a report of suspected child abuse, but they were told that they cannot do so for a pregnant woman
The father stood behind the car in an effort to block his daughter from driving away
Although the government authorized its use, policy restrictions prevent Cape Cod officers from actually administering the heroin overdose antidote
“There is not a day, an hour, a second out of 60 minutes that I don’t think of him,” he told the family of the 21-year-old killed in the accident
Five people, including two medics, were injured in the collision
It shouldn’t be a turf battle; EMTs, police, firefighters, friends and family members can all use this life-saving tool
Drug shortages won’t disappear any time soon, and EMS agencies need come up with innovative ways to ensure that their patients receive the right drug at the right time
“I love my job,” Timothy Greenlee said at the hearing. “I can return to be a better firefighter than I was before my addiction.”
Brooklyn EMT Joseph Meyer, 25, was released without bail to his mother, a NYPD lieutenant and his father, a FDNY lieutenant
The hospital studied 255 “super-frequent users” and created individual care plans to better manage the patients
He was fired for taking a drug without a prescription, but wasn’t given a chance to prove his doctor recommended the drug until after he was terminated
A hearing will determine if he will get to keep his fire department job after he tearfully admitted to a prescription drug addiction after developing kidney stones
All participants in the class received a certificate of completion and an emergency resuscitation kit that included two doses of Narcan.
A gray pickup truck ran a red light and slammed into the ambulance at 4 a.m., then broke down after it sped away
She says she told her bosses she thought he was intoxicated before he crashed an ambulance into another car; afterwards she was retaliated against and then fired
He accepted a plea deal for removing 100 micrograms of fentanyl while assisting a nurse wo was starting an IV for a patient at Exeter Hospital
Medics described incidents where it took at least four people over an hour to deal with one out-of-control patient on ‘spice’
All FDNY EMTS, 205 fire companies and police officers will now be carrying the drug to treat heroin overdoses
