PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles Fire Department community paramedics responded to 10 overdose calls during the first three weeks of their pilot overdose response program. Seventy percent of those calls resulted in the individuals entering a medication-assisted treatment program.
Fire Chief Derrell Sharp presented this pilot program to the Port Angeles Noon Rotary at the Wildcat Cafe on Wednesday.
“As you know, the opioid crisis has been pretty impactful in the city of Port Angeles,” Sharp told the Noon Rotary.
Around 76 percent of Clallam County overdoses occur in Port Angeles, according to Sharp.
The Port Angeles Fire Department responded to 102 overdose calls over the first six months of 2023, Sharp said. Only about 40 percent of these individuals accepted transport to the hospital.
“Sixty percent are just being left on the street,” Sharp said.
Sharp said by the time firefighter paramedics got to the overdose patients, Narcan had already been administered. Due to the Narcan, the patient was awake, alert and experiencing acute opioid withdrawal syndrome.
Narcan is a medicine that binds to opioid receptors in the brain, blocking the opioids from those receptors. Sharp said this means the individuals will no longer experience the euphoria they were searching for, and any pain they were trying to treat will be back in full force.
Because patients were going through withdrawal symptoms when the crew arrived, many would refuse transfer to the hospital and instead focus solely on trying to alleviate their withdrawal symptoms.
The fire department hypothesized that if they could remove the patient’s withdrawal symptoms, they would be more willing to talk and accept referral services.
To test their hypothesis, the fire department got approval in February from the Washington State Department of Health to allow their community paramedics to administer buprenorphine.
Buprenorphine is a medicine that partially takes away opioid withdrawal symptoms, according to Sharp.
The fire department also received a grant from the University of Washington in May for up to $350,000 to support their pilot program, according to prior reporting.
After approval, community paramedics responded to all overdose calls that occurred during work hours.
During the first three weeks of the program, community paramedics responded to 10 overdose calls. One was fatal and two refused treatment and transport.
The other seven individuals connected with the community paramedics, were referred to partner agencies and entered medication-assisted treatment programs.
“We’re pretty excited about this program,” Sharp said. “It’s the first program to be carrying buprenorphine and have the ability to administer it in the field.”
Since implementing the pilot program, Sharp said three other cities have started similar programs. These four cities have been meeting virtually once a month to share information and identify best practices.
The Port Angeles Fire Department has three main divisions: emergency response, prevention and community paramedicine.
Twenty-four line staff handle emergency response. Currently they work 24-hour shifts, but Sharp said in January they will move to 48 hours on, 96 hours off.
“Statistically, that’s a much healthier shift,” Sharp said.
Prevention covers community education and fire and life safety inspections.
“This is an area where we’re seeing some significant changes that are going to benefit the department,” Sharp said.
One of those changes is hiring a full-time inspector/fire prevention specialist.
The community paramedic program deals with calls that are not emergency medical related, such as falls and lift assists, according to Sharp. The program was started becuase the non-medical emergency calls were diminishing the department’s ability to respond to significant health concerns such as heart attacks and strokes.
“It has proved to be cost effective,” Sharp said.
Community paramedics are not “tied to the next 911 call,” said Sharp, so they are able to have in-depth conversations about patient’s health concerns and connect them to social services.
The base mission of the fire department, according to Sharp, is to “meet the needs of our community, whatever they may be.”
“You have an amazing fire department,” Sharp said.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
