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NIOSH Recommends Safe Practices for First Responders Providing Medical Assistance to Overdose Patients

Professional Safety - 5/8/2021

A recent NIOSH report provides safety recommendations to keep first responders safe while providing medical assistance to overdose patients. The report describes a 2019 incident in which a career firefighter was killed and a police officer and civilian were injured by gunfire while responding to an incident involving a patient who overdosed. According to the report, emergency personnel were dispatched to a bus where a person had fallen unconscious. The patient was treated with naloxone (a drug used to treat a narcotic overdose in an emergency situation), and first responders escorted the patient off the bus. After determining that the patient needed to be transported to a local hospital for follow-up, police officers repeatedly asked the patient if he had anything on his person that would harm the first responders. The patient then pulled out a concealed handgun and began firing at the responders, wounding two people and killing the firefighter.

The report provides recommendations for first responders who must deliver medical assistance to patients who overdose, such as:

*Train on standard operating procedures for naloxone administration, including an understanding of the objective of naloxone therapy and the possibility of agitation and combativeness from persons after receiving naloxone.

*Ensure scene safety and take all necessary actions to protect first responders when providing lifesaving care to a patient.

*Authorities having jurisdiction (e.g., municipalities, areas or departments) should consider developing standard operating procedures or guides that specify when a patient should receive a pat down to identify possible threats to responders or when a patient should be restrained because the person may pose a threat.

Read the report at www.cdc.gov/ niosh/fire/pdfs/face201913.pdf.