Agenda - Item 4-d - Emergency Services EMS Initiative to Promote Community Well-being

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13 Policy: Patients who have experienced an isolated IV opiate overdose should be offered a variety of options to more appropriately manage their addiction. Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to: • Ensure that the patient is offered various options for treatment of substance abuse. • Provide harm reduction measures. Procedure: 1. All patients must be over 18 years of age and must not have been in cardiac arrest during the incident. 2. The patient must regain a normal mental status and respiratory effort after the administration of Naloxone. 3. Transport to the Emergency Department should be offered to all patients. 4. For patients who decline transport to the Emergency Department, alternative destinations should be offered when possible. These options could include assistance with inpatient treatment centers such as Freedom House, outpatient facilities, mobile crisis solutions, addiction specialists, other local treatment options. 5. In order to decline transport, the patient must meet the following criteria: a) Be 18 years or older b) Maintain a GCS of 15 c) Fully alert and oriented d) Be able to understand the risk of refusing transport, as described in Universal Protocol 1 (UP 1) 6. If the patient declines transport to the Emergency Department, an additional dose of 2mg Naloxone should be administered IM by EMS. A Naloxone kit should be left with the patient, family, and/ or friends on the scene. EMS will provide education on how to use these kits. 7. In addition to the medication, the following items should be utilized when possible: a) Offer to dispose of any dirty needles b) Provide clean needles /syringes when possible c) Refer to a community peer support team if available d) Leave literature on resources for substance abuse treatment e) Notification of policy utilization should be made to the EMS Operations Manager via email after any naloxone kits are distributed.