Building bridges to outpatient treatment services for post-overdose care via paramedic buprenorphine field initiation

Despite sustained efforts to reduce opioid-related overdose fatalities, rates have continued to rise. In many areas, overdose response involves emergency medical service (EMS) personnel administering naloxone and transporting patients to the emergency department (ED). However, a substantial number of patients decline transport, and many EDs do not provide medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD). One approach to filling this gap involves delivering MOUD to overdose patients in the field with trained post-overdose EMS teams who can initiate buprenorphine.
Source: Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research