PULSE Magazine | June/July 2019 Issue

By Lia Bermudez , EMT-B

CHP

CHP OPIOID RESPONSE PROJECT

The Opioid Response project seeks to address clients addiction crisis and provide navigation for funding, treatment, and other aspects of recovery for opioid addicts. CHP medics lead clients to resources that will increase their quality of life.

Narcan. At ATCEMS, we utilize Narcan daily, sometimes as the sure fix to an apneic patient with pinpoint pupils, other times as an educated guess as to what they have ingested. In some ways, Narcan is a miracle drug, reversing deadly effects of opioids within seconds. As exciting as it is to see the good that Narcan can do, it’s even more exciting to know that the distribution of Narcan is just a small part of a broader, more encompassing project within the Community Health Paramedic Program. The Opioid Emergency Response Project is a fast-paced, effective piece of what CHP medics engage in every day on the job. Field medics take center stage by providing emergency care to patients who overdose. But when the ambulance pulls away from the hospital and the patient’s chart is filed away, there still exists a crisis in the patient’s life. The opioid project seeks to address this problem and provide navigation for funding, treatment, and other aspects of recovery for opioid addicts. At the Austin Transitional Center, there was a resident who we will call Laura. Craig Fairbrother, who devotes his hours on the job to the incarcerated population, met Laura when she arrived at the Transitional Center, and was told by the staff that Laura would likely be looking to score some drugs while she was there. Craig promptly addressed Laura in his bold but friendly manner. He explained that he could help Laura get into suboxone treatment so that she could get off of heroin. The next day, CommUnity Care held their scheduled services at the Transitional Center, and Craig facilitated a private meeting between Laura and the nurse practitioner. Laura’s suboxone induction was scheduled, and Craig stayed in close contact with her until her induction date, including coaching her about going into withdrawals for her induction. Laura walked out of the Dove Springs Medically Assisted Treatment clinic feeling much better, having successfully been inducted into suboxone treatment. Craig also facilitated connections to counseling for Laura to work in conjunction with her treatment. Still, Laura was not in the clear. She was surrounded at the Transitional Center by people who would encourage her to re-engage in drug-seeking activity, threatening to undermine the work she had done by

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