NASEMSO Publishes Article in COSSUP Newsletter

The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) featured an article in its October 2023 Catching up with COSSUP publication entitled Coordinated Opioid Recovery begins with Emergency Medical Services in Florida. Written by NASEMSO Program Manager Mary Hedges, the piece describes how EMS agencies are responding to persons with substance use disorder through community paramedicine programs and countywide teams involving detox, mental health, addiction, and medical care.

One key service offered by the community paramedics is medication assisted treatment for withdrawal symptoms as patients await admission to addiction treatment programs. The Florida Department of Health, Department of Children and Families, and Agency for Health Care Administration developed the Coordinated Opioid Recovery (CORE) Program, which was officially launched in fall 2022. CORE was modeled after programs in Palm Beach County,  Clay County, and Ocala, Florida that had begun a few years earlier. To read more about this program that has expanded to twelve counties in 2023, click here.