Austin-Travis County EMS expands narcan kit program
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) expanded its Naloxone kit program, placing rescue kits on all seven district command trucks for distribution to members of the public that are at risk for opiate overdose.
Narcan or Naloxone, is a life-saving medication that reverses the effects of an opiate overdose within minutes. ATCEMS Community Health Paramedics (CHPs) have carried and distributed these kits for years.
Now, with the expansion of the program, ATCEMS hopes to get even more of this life-saving medication into the hands of those that need it the most.
All ATCEMS response units carry hospital grade Naloxone for paramedic use, but the Naloxone in the rescue kits is a simple nose spray that can be administered by anyone. Each kit contains one dose of the life-saving medication, along with instructions for how to use it.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Several Austin bars to provide Narcan to prevent overdoses
- Narcan to be distributed to all Austin ISD campuses
- Close to 10,000 doses of naloxone received by Travis County to distribute
Since the inception of the program in 2018, ATCEMS has passed out over 2000 naloxone rescue kits to the public.
ATCEMS CHP Opiate Use Disorder Support Program also operates a successful Buprenorphine Bridge Program, which aims to both get clients with opiate use disorder into treatment programs, and keeps them out of opiate withdrawal while awaiting placement.
A QR code that links to information about all the CHP programs is also included in the naloxone rescue kits, for those that are interested in additional resources.