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.
Discover how fentanyl test strips work, the obstacles to their widespread use and their impact on harm reduction
Limit your exposure and clean the ambulance and your clothing before heading home after shift to avoid contaminating your home and loved ones
Steve Whitehead and Dr. David Tan discuss the EMS response to a patient who is allegedly drunk and has been seen by providers many times in the past
First responders in Oceanside faced six men down due to a drug overdose
Mercer County officials are placing the devices after a medical emergency at the Courthouse Annex earlier this year
The bill introduced by Supervisor Matt Dorsey would require pharmacies to stock the nasal spray or face fines
“We don’t know whether xylazine is increasing the risk of overdose or reducing the risk of overdose,” Dr. Lewis Nelson of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School said
EMS transported the driver to a Palm Coast hospital to be treated for “ingesting a large amount of narcotics”
Honolulu EMS warns personnel to be on the lookout for signs of xylazine
Matthew W. Milburn told first responders the unconscious subject was ’10-4' and they could cancel their response
Hennepin EMS collaborated with addiction medicine experts to establish a treatment protocol
Xylazine, often mixed with fentanyl, has necrotizing effects that rot the skin and lead to amputations
Knowing how xylazine presents clinically, as well as how it impacts overdose management is important for any provider responding to illicit drug overdoses
Albuterol, fentanyl and naloxone injectable are among the drugs being recalled – many of which are in very short supply, with no alternate source available
The call volume has been increasing every year and includes more than drug-related overdoses
Studies, funded by the federal government, found Opvee achieved similar recovery results to Narcan
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend millions to provide Narcan but the end of grant funding may impact delivery
Over 2,200 unhoused people died in 2021, a sharper increase than in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic
By the end of May, every firefighter in Chattanooga will have completed online training about xylazine, a sedative veterinary drug, based on information from the DEA
“There is a lot of discussion about overdose prevention centers, but ultimately, we need data to see if they are working or not,” said Dr. Nora Volkow
Christopher Robert Pattinson was indicted by a grand jury last year
Sheriff’s deputies were the last people to see the singer alive; they did a welfare check after he was seen huffing an inhalant on an Instagram live video
Wilkes-Barre FD members returned to class with questions; “It provided timelessness,” said Thomas Franko, Wilkes University assistant professor
The Office of National Drug Control Policy is requesting $11 million to develop a strategy to tackle xylazine’s spread, which includes seeking an antidote
The Index tracks data for more than 2,600 EMS agencies across the country
Alcohol-related EMS calls fell in nearby Chelsea, which had a half-year restriction
Robert Gala was found guilty of multiple crimes committed during his public safety career; his father, Deputy Chief Michael Gala, described the son’s addiction
FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf cited “the dire public health need” for the opioid antagonist
Documents show Kansas City’s civil rights department investigated and substantiated her complaints that her supervisor “taunted and terrorized her”
“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said
Giovanna Vittori filed her discrimination lawsuit in 2018; later that year, she died from a medication overdose at 38
The mother handed the child to Boca Raton Fire Rescue paramedics, who helped him regain a faint pulse before transporting him
