St. Paul EMS crews now carry suboxone for patients struggling with addiction

St. St. Paul Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has implemented a new program to help treat patients struggling with addiction. The crew now carries suboxone, which can be administered to those in withdrawal.

St. “This drug will absolutely save lives,” said Paul EMS Deputy Chief Steve Sampson. “It’s a bit high-tech for this to be delivered through a fire or emergency services. “There aren’t many fire-based emergency services around the country that are implementing this.”

He explained that they have begun reaching out to other institutions that administer suboxone in other parts of the country to see if a program would be adopted here.

“Our community in the City of St. Paul has been kind of devastated by the impacts of opioid-related emergency medical services,” Sampson said. “Our people were looking for a resource that could benefit those who need it most.”

St. Within six months, Paul EMS, in partnership with Regions Hospital, received DEA approval to begin administering the drug.

Regions Hospital Emergency Medical Services participated in training the teams last month, which included testing to ensure EMS paramedics were ready to administer suboxone.

Patients will choose whether they want to use this option. According to Sampson, this is for people who begin experiencing withdrawal symptoms immediately after taking Narcan or who decide to stop using the drug on their own and need intervention to help relieve withdrawal symptoms before they relapse.

“The only option we really had before was to take these people to the emergency room, now we can give people the option of medication and meet them where they are,” he said.

Suboxone has been used for years, including at the Hazeldon Betty Ford Foundation.

Hazeldon Betty Ford’s chief medical officer, Dr. “Suboxone is very safe,” Alta DeRoo said, explaining that it is classified as an opioid. “It only partially activates the opioid receptor. It has a ceiling effect, so even if someone wants to take more suxboxone, it doesn’t have the overdose profile like other opioids.”

“People won’t be able to enjoy suboxone,” he added.

Dr. It can be taken in an acute setting or long-term, according to DeRoo.

“They will no longer experience opioid withdrawal such as rapid heartbeat, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea,” he said. “It eliminates these terrible symptoms of opioid withdrawal because it actually stimulates the opioid receptor.”

St. Paul was encouraged by EMS’s new program.

“Providing some form of medication on board to transfer the treatment of emergency personnel to a facility like ours could be a life-saving measure,” he said. “I’m so excited to hear this.”