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<br />ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: June 19, 2018 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 4-d <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Emergency Services EMS Initiative to Promote Community Well-being <br /> <br />DEPARTMENT: Emergency Services <br /> <br /> <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />PowerPoint Presentation <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Dinah Jeffries, 919-245-6123 <br /> Kim Woodward, 919-245-6133 <br /> Dr. Joey Grover, 919-245-6100 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />PURPOSE: To receive information on several Emergency Medical Services initiatives and <br />activities to promote community well-being. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has been preparing for several months <br />to launch several initiatives that focus on critical issues in the community and to foster <br />collaboration with EMS’s partners to enhance the development of EMS as a coordinated system <br />of care. <br /> <br />1. Freedom House Alternative Destination Transport <br /> <br />This initiative allows ambulances to evaluate behavioral crisis patients and ensure that <br />the most appropriate facility is utilized. EMS has worked closely with the Freedom <br />House, Cardinal Innovations and the State Office of EMS to develop alternative <br />destination protocols that have been approved. The target date to begin these transports <br />is August 13, 2018. <br /> <br />2. Naloxone Distribution and Clean Needle Exchange <br /> <br />Beginning July 1, 2018, paramedics responding to opioid overdoses will be able to <br />provide naloxone to patients who refuse transport to the hospital. Utilizing a State Office <br />of EMS sponsored protocol; paramedics will leave naloxone with the patient, family or <br />friends. Patients may also request clean needles aiding in the prevention against <br />spreading blood borne diseases through the use of shared and/or dirty needles. <br />Paramedics will also provide literature from the Sheriff’s Office and the Health <br />Department. <br /> <br />3. Coordinated Opioid Overdose Reduction Effort (COORE) <br /> <br />Paramedics work with the Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Justice Resource Department and the <br />Health Department to provide follow up services to patients who received naloxone <br />1