Prior Emergency Medical Services Utilization Among People Who Had an Accidental Opioid-Involved Fatal Drug Overdose-Rhode Island, 2018-2020.

OBJECTIVE: To help understand whether decreased emergency medical services (EMS) utilization due to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to increased accidental fatal drug overdoses, we characterized recent EMS utilization history among people who had an accidental opioid-involved fatal drug overdose in Rhode Island. METHODS: We identified accidental opioid-involved fatal drug overdoses among Rhode Island residents that occurred from January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2020. We linked decedents by name and date of birth to the Rhode Island EMS Information System to obtain EMS utilization history. RESULTS: Among 763 people who had an accidental opioid-involved fatal overdose, 51% had any EMS run and 16% had any opioid overdose-related EMS run in the 2 years before death. Non-Hispanic White decedents were significantly more likely than decedents of other races and ethnicities to have any EMS run (P < .001) and any opioid overdose-related EMS run (P = .05) in the 2 years before death. Despite a 31% increase in fatal overdoses from 2019 through 2020, corresponding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, EMS utilization in the prior 2 years, prior 180 days, or prior 90 days did not vary by time frame of death. CONCLUSION: In Rhode Island, decreased EMS utilization because of the COVID-19 pandemic was not a driving force behind the increase in overdose fatalities observed in 2020. However, with half of people who had an accidental opioid-involved fatal drug overdose having an EMS run in the 2 years before death, emergency care is a potential opportunity to link people to health care and social services.

Calls of Despair: An EMS Perspective on Suicide and Overdose in Rhode Island during COVID-19.

In 2020, Americans suffered marked increases in overdose deaths and self-reported suicidal ideation, widely attributed to COVID-19. However, the recent pandemic's full effect on suicide and drug overdose, two of the "deaths of despair", remains poorly understood. This study aims to illustrate the impact of COVID-19 on suicide and overdose calls to emergency medical services (EMS) in Rhode Island using syndromic analysis as a novel public health surveillance tool. Utilizing computer algorithms, suicide and overdose EMS calls were identified during the pre-pandemic (March 2019-February 2020) and pandemic (March 2020-February 2021) years. Versus the prior year, pandemic year mean monthly call volume declined significantly for opioid (-16.2%), overdose (-15.5%), and suicide ideation (-6.2%) syndromes. Given elevated national overdose deaths and suicidality, our results suggest that hesitancy to call 911 amid COVID-19 hampered EMS intervention on suicide and overdose patients, potentially compounding their despair and the acuity of their eventual presentation.

Pediatric Trauma Readiness: A Trauma-Specific Assessment to Complement the National Pediatric Readiness Project.

OBJECTIVES: The National Pediatric Readiness Project of the Emergency Medical Services for Children surveyed emergency departments in the United States in 2013 for readiness to provide emergency care to children. However, that survey did not query for many elements considered essential to Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS). METHODS: Our pediatric trauma center and state department of health collaborated to develop a survey reflecting ATLS principles regarding pediatric-specific trauma stabilization, clinical/administrative resources, and interfacility transfer to complement the 2017 PedsReady survey. We distributed the survey to all emergency department medical directors in our state in 2017. RESULTS: Medical directors of all 11 emergency departments responded. Only 2 reported having physician or nurse pediatric trauma coordinators. Two reported comfort with all emergency procedures at all ages (eg, airway, traumatic pneumothorax treatment, etc), whereas 9 had variable thresholds of comfort by age and procedure. Reported utilization of pediatric trauma-specific protocols varied the following: hyperosmolar therapy (1), neurological assessment (3), chest injury (4), massive transfusion (1), triage (5), trauma transfer agreements (10), imaging-limitation protocols (4), internal (1) and inter-facility (4) quality assurance/quality improvement process (1), and real-time image transfer (11). CONCLUSIONS: This survey identified gaps in the readiness of emergency departments to treat injured children in our state that were not detected by the 2013 PedsReady surveys. Future surveys of emergency department pediatric readiness should consider more detailed, trauma-specific readiness questions. This will allow for assignment of more accurate goals and benchmarking standards for national pediatric trauma readiness.