Tuesday, April 23, 2024
4/23/2024
The King County Emergency Medical Service Overdose Prevention Project (KCEOPP), is a program of Public Health-Seattle & King County (PHSKC) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to provide an enhanced response to people who use drugs in King County who access EMS. The program will train first responders in King County, implement a naloxone leave-behind program and start medication teleprescribing with supportive services, care management, and referral. King County, WA has an estimated 2.2 million people residing within the county. It is diverse, with the population spanning high-density urban, suburban, and rural areas, comprised of 60.9% non-Hispanic white, 16.6% Asian, 10.1% Hispanic/Latino, 6.4% Black/African American, 0.8% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, o.6% American Indian/Alaska Native, and 4.6% multi-racial individuals. There are stark disproportionalities in the impact of drug use in King County. Unhoused individuals make up approximately 15% of overdose deaths despite being only 1% of the population. Other marginalized populations are also disproportionately impacted; American Indian/Alaska Native residents have an estimated overdose death rate of more than five times the county average and Black and Latinx individuals also have disproportionately high overdose rates. The year 2021 culminated in the largest yearly increase to date, to which factors related to the pandemic and the influx of fentanyl in the local dug supply have contributed. Fentanyl has been increasingly involved in overdose deaths, from 3 deaths in 2015 to 360 in 2021-a nearly 12,000% increase in just six years. Overdose disproportionately impacts marginalized demographic groups; death rates (in numbers per 100,000) in 2020 were 77.2 for American Indians/Alaskan Natives, 32.7 for Blacks, and 16.5 for Hispanics, compared to 16 for Whites. PHSKC EMS is the applicant organization for t his grant. The Medic One/EMS system is built on partnerships that are rooted in regional, collaborative, and cross jurisdictional coordination between four 9-1-1 dispatch centers, 28 fire agencies, five paramedic agencies, over 20 hospitals, the University of Washington, and the citizens throughout King County that allows the system to excel in pre-hospital emergency care. It is Based on a three-tiered model of Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support, and Mobile Integrated Health. In 2021, EMS responded to over 4,000 nonfatal overdoses in King County, an increase of 59% since 2018. The three goals of this project are: 1) Increase knowledge among EMS first responders across King County's tiered EMS system on opioid use disorder, reducing addiction stigma, trauma-informed overdose response, secondary trauma, drug safety measures, and related topics. 2) Reduce overdose fatalities among EMS patients with know or suspected overdose, and those at risk of overdose. 3) Increase access to appropriate treatment and recovery support services among EMS patients with opioid use disorder and opioid-related needs. The KCEOPP will provide enhanced overdose prevention services to 10,800 people, provide post overdose follow-up to 5,700 people and train 28 fire departments.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
