MADISON, Wis. — The Madison Fire Department will now carry buprenorphine in ambulances and med units.
In 2023, the City of Madison Fire Department used Narcan close to 400 times for suspected opioid overdoses. Officials said they hope with the deployment of buprenorphine, they can reduce that statistic.
Friday marked the first day that the department carried buprenorphine in ambulances. The drug is designed to assist with managing withdrawal symptoms after an overdose. Madison Fire Department division chief of EMS training, Chris Hammes said the department responds to opioid-related calls very often.
“I would say it’s daily,” Hammes said. “It’s not exclusive to a socioeconomic class. It hits all spectrums of our community.”
He said having this drug will hopefully help those in the community who are struggling, and prevent first responders from having to return to the same patients over and over again.
“Utilizing this medication, we are hopeful we can lessen the number of repeat encounters of patients who go through opioid withdrawal or overdoses,” said Hammer. “And ultimately reduce the number of deaths in our community because of it.”
Madison Fire Department medical director, Megan Gussick said these medicine tablets will help those who struggle with addiction. The fire department is excited to help in any way they can.
“There is no magic bullet for treating opioid use disorder, but we hope this is another piece of the puzzle to improve patients lives and break that cycle,” said Gussik. “So they can return to functional lives where opioids are no longer a part of it.”
Ideally, this drug will help patients with the symptoms that come along with withdrawal that can be consuming. The fire department said the goal is to help people get into treatment and recovery.
“It’s about saving lives and helping at least decrease the level of addiction and repeat overdoses that we see on a day to day basis.” Hammes said.
The West Allis Fire Department was the first in the state to deploy this drug to its community. Greenfield and Milwaukee Fire Departments also carry this drug.
First responders said they hope it continues to aid them in providing immediate help for crisis and also recovery.