Under a new program, Seattle Fire paramedics will be allowed to administer a new medication that helps people suffering from withdrawal.
Each year, hundreds of people die of an overdose in Seattle. Now, the city is taking a step forward in trying to combat the crisis. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell says the drug is known to cut the risk of death by half. The fire chief says the Health 99 Unit, staffed with firefighter EMTs and a Human Services Department caseworker, is one part of the Seattle Fire Department's next evolution in saving lives in an opioid epidemic.
To add more tools to the kit, trained firefighter paramedics will now be able to administer Buprenorphine, which is also known as suboxone, to patients that they encounter in the field. "It works by lowering the cravings that people have for more fentanyl and by preventing fentanyl from causing a person to stop breathing," said SFD Medical Director Dr. Michael Sayre.
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