Impact of in-Station Medication Automated Dispensing Systems on Prehospital Pain Medication Administration.

INTRODUCTION: Medication automatic dispensing systems (ADS) have been implemented in many settings, including fire-based EMS stations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of in-station ADSs on controlled substance administration rates and EMS response intervals. METHODS: This study was a retrospective review of data from a single fire-based EMS agency. Medication administration rates and EMS response intervals were compared before ADS implementation (P1; 6/1/15 to 5/31/16) and after ADS implementation (P3; 6/1/17-5/31/19). Cases with missing data and during a one-year implementation period were excluded. RESULTS: 4045 cases were identified in P1 and 8168 in P3. The odds of morphine or versed administration increased following ADS implementation: OR = 1.77 (95% CI: 1.53, 2.03) and OR = 1.53 (95%CI: 1.18, 2.00) respectively. There were statistically, but likely not operationally significant increases in median response interval and transport interval from P1 to P3 of 14 seconds, (p < 0.001) and 39 seconds (p < 0.001) respectively. Time at hospital for all calls decreased by more than 11 minutes for all transports, from a median of 34 minutes (IQR; 23.7, 45.5) to 22.7 minutes (IQR:18.5, 27.6) in P3, p < 0.001 and by 27.9 minutes for calls in which a controlled substance was given: P1 = 50.6 minutes (IQR: 34.6, 63.2), P3 = 22.7 minutes (IQR: 18.3, 27.4), p < 0.001. CONCLUSION: In this system, medication ADS implementation was associated with an increase in the rates of controlled substance administration and a decrease in the time units were at hospitals.

Availability and use of medications by prehospital providers trained to manage medical complications of patients in hazardous materials incidents.

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about prehospital availability and use of medications to treat patients from hazardous materials (hazmat) medical emergencies. The aim of this study was to identify the availability and frequency of use of medications for patients in hazmat incidents by paramedics with advanced training to care for these patients. METHODS: A prospectively validated survey was distributed to United States paramedics with advanced training in the medical management of patients from hazmat incidents who successfully completed a 16-hour Advanced Hazmat Life Support (AHLS) Provider Course from 1999 to 2017. The survey questioned hazmat medication availability, storage, and frequency of use. Hazmat medications were considered to have been used if administered anytime within the past 5 years. For analyses, medications were grouped into those with hazmat indications only and those with multiple indications. RESULTS: The survey email was opened by 911 course participants and 784 of these completed the survey (86.1 percent). Of these 784 respondents, 279 (35.6 percent) reported carrying dedicated hazmat medication kits, ie, tox-boxes, and 505 (64.4 percent) did not carry tox-boxes. For those medications specifically for hazmat use, hydroxocobalamin was most commonly available, either within or not within a dedicated tox-box. Of the 784 respondents, 313 (39.9 percent) reported carrying hydroxocobalamin and 69 (8.8 percent) reported administering it within the past 5 years. For medications with multiple indications, availability and use varied: for example, of the 784 respondents, albuterol was available to 699 (89.2 percent) and used by 572 (73.0 percent), while calcium gluconate was available to 247 (31.5 percent) and used by 80 (10.2 percent) within the last 5 years. CONCLUSION: Paramedics with advanced training in the medical management of patients in hazmat incidents reported limited availability and use of medications to treat patients in hazmat incidents.

Refusals After Prehospital Administration of Naloxone during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if COVID-19 was associated with a change in patient refusals after Emergency Medical Services (EMS) administration of naloxone. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study in which the incidence of refusals after naloxone administration in a single EMS system was evaluated. The number of refusals after naloxone administration was compared across the before-pandemic interval (01/01/20 to 02/15/20) and the during-pandemic interval (03/16/20 to 04/30/20). For comparison the incidence of all other patient refusals before and during COVID-19 as well as the incidences of naloxone administration before and during COVID-19 were also reported. RESULTS: Prior to the widespread knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic, 24 of 164 (14.6%) patients who received naloxone via EMS refused transport. During the pandemic, 55 of 153 (35.9%) patients who received naloxone via EMS refused transport. Subjects receiving naloxone during the COVID-19 pandemic were at greater risk of refusal of transport than those receiving naloxone prior to the pandemic (RR = 2.45; 95% CI 1.6-3.76). Among those who did not receive naloxone, 2067 of 6956 (29.7%) patients were not transported prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and 2483 of 6016 (41.3%) were not transported during the pandemic. Subjects who did not receive naloxone with EMS were at greater risk of refusal of transport during the COVID-19 pandemic than prior to it (RR = 1.39; 95% CI 1.32-1.46). CONCLUSION: In this single EMS system, more than a two-fold increase in the rate of refusal after non-fatal opioid overdose was observed following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Can Emergency Medical Services Utilization Rates Be Used to Measure the Success of An Alcohol Amnesty Policy?

INTRODUCTION: Medical Amnesty/Good Samaritan (MAGS) policies, which eliminate legal charges when students call 9-1-1 for excessive drinking, have been implemented with the goal of reducing barriers to accessing Emergency Medical Services (EMS). This study investigated the impact of MAGS policy implementation on EMS calls on campus and if that EMS call volume could be used to measure policy success. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of alcohol-related EMS calls before and after MAGS implementation at a single large public university campus. Methods: A retrospective review of all 9-1-1 calls to on-campus locations was conducted using patient care records (PCRs) from a collegiate EMS agency responding exclusively to on-campus 9-1-1 calls. Calls were excluded if the PCR was marked "incomplete", were outside the 2015 CBEMS response zone boundaries, or if patient age was <15 or >25 years old to ensure analysis was targeting the on-campus student population. The incidence of alcohol-related 9-1-1 calls was compared between one academic year (AY) prior to (pre-MAGS, AY2015) and two years after MAGS implementation (post-MAGS, AY2016/17). An alcohol-related 9-1-1 call was defined as an EMS provider primary or secondary impression of "Alcohol, Alcohol Intoxication, or Alcohol Ingestion" or a call in which the patient explicitly admitted to alcohol use. Relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to describe the results. Results: Over the three-year study period, the collegiate EMS agency responded to 2440 calls of which 1283 met inclusion criteria. 58 calls were excluded for being incomplete, 227 were outside the original boundaries and 872 were outside the defined age range. Of those calls, 351 were pre-MAGS and 932 were post-MAGS. Of the total 9-1-1 calls, 127 (36.2%) were related to alcohol pre-MAGS and 327 (35.1%) were related to alcohol post-MAGS policy implementation. The relative risk of a 9-1-1 call being made for alcohol-related issues after MAGS implementation was RR = 0.97 (95% CI 0.83-1.14; P = 0.713). Conclusion: Implementation of a MAGS policy was not associated with a significant change in the number of alcohol-related EMS responses. It is unclear if these results reflect ineffective policy implementation or a general reduction in on-campus alcohol consumption. However, using EMS call volume as a marker for policy success and quality improvement offers an innovative tool through which EMS agencies can provide valuable feedback to other system stakeholders.