Emergency medical services’ (EMS) administration of naloxone combined with transport to the emergency department (ED) to receive MOUD has emerged as a prominent post-overdose response strategy. However, this approach does not account for the large number of patients who are not transported and therefore miss the opportunity to receive treatment. This gap in the pathway to treatment can be filled by providing buprenorphine for overdose patients in the field with specially trained post-overdose EMS teams. There are only a few of these field- initiated, pre-hospital MOUD treatment programs currently operating, and the research examining their impact is extremely limited. This project describes and evaluates one such program, with a particular focus on outcomes of patients with criminal-legal system involvement.

Study Setting: Treatment/Healthcare Settings