November 2, 2017 – Like firefighters and EMTs in cities and towns across the United States, emergency personnel in Philadelphia are dealing with the devastating effects of the drug epidemic every day.
A special response code needed to be introduced by the city’s fire department to alert workers about an overdose, reports Philadelphia Weekly. Here’s more on the impact on the city:
Last year, the Philadelphia Fire Department dispatched its ambulances across the city 260,000 times; just 14,000 of those trips were overdose-related. A small fraction, to be sure; nevertheless, the practice has become so routine that in mid-June, the Fire Department implemented a new response code for opioid-related overdose calls. When a “3018” chirps across the radio, paramedics ready the naloxone.
It is difficult to imagine how high the city’s body count would be without EMS’ line of defense. Spurred by ultra-potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl, overdoses claimed 906 lives citywide in 2016, and this year is on track to reap more than 1,200 such fatalities.
If you or a loved one are living with addiction and have any questions about the Malvern Intervention Services or the Malvern 90-Day Model, please give us a call at 610.MALVERN (610.625.8376).
Read the full story on Philadelphia Weekly.