Opioid Overdose Attack Case Study

Words: 1782
Pages: 8

Firefighters across the country respond to a wide variety of emergency calls every minute of every day. One specific type of emergency call is growing at an alarming rate, a rate which now classifies the problem as an epidemic across the country. Opiate addiction is now the number one drug cited for overdose-related deaths in the U.S. This case study will take a closer look at the alarming statistics through the eyes of Anytown, USA, a population of 300,000 people, 48 of which have lost their lives to an opioid overdose in the past twelve months. Firefighters in this town are frontline heroes attempting to save as many individuals from losing the battle in this growing epidemic. What more can be done to resolve this ever increasing problem? …show more content…
For example, in Marion, Ohio, previously those who overdosed on drugs would be arrested for possession are now met with a drug counselor to begin the right treatment to recovery (Roman, 2017, p. 2). It is apparent, a proactive, rather than a reactive approach is the key to winning this fight; it will take the collaboration of public health, social services, mental health, local hospitals, churches, local government and other charitable organizations to all network together to beat this epidemic. There is documented proof of programs that are working, and they are making a difference in the fight on reducing opioid-related deaths and …show more content…
These programs include; improving access to treatment and recovery services, promoting the use of overdosing-reversing drugs, strengthen their understanding of the epidemic through better public health surveillance ("Overdose," p. 1). By monitoring the data provided by HHS, it will decrease the workload of the task force by forecasting a broad insight into the fight on opioid addiction. Similar relationships will be established with the Centers for Disease Control