Commissioners approve Brunswick County EMS post‑overdose response, authorize hiring for community paramedic positions

Brunswick County commissioners on March 7 approved a request from county emergency medical services to begin a post‑overdose response program that includes short‑term medication‑assisted therapy and outreach by community paramedics.

Lyle (EMS presenter and system lead) told the board the county hired its first community paramedic on Dec. 2, 2024, and staff developed medical protocols that received state approval from the North Carolina Office of EMS and BMS on March 5, 2025. He said the program’s goals are to reduce opioid-related deaths, link people who experience an overdose to treatment services and provide bridge medication‑assisted therapy while referrals are arranged.

Under state rules described to the board, paramedics may provide medication‑assisted therapy for five days and then, with medical-direction authorization, extend treatment for an additional two days to allow time to get a patient into a formal treatment program. Lyle asked the board for permission to implement the post‑overdose program; he also said applications for a second community paramedic position had closed and staff planned to hire another paramedic and a caseworker to provide follow-up and referrals.

A commissioner moved and another seconded approval of the EMS request; the board approved the program by voice vote. Commissioners also praised the EMS system’s performance. Lyle presented system data showing a 2024 return‑of‑spontaneous‑circulation (ROSC) rate after attempted resuscitation of 35.5 percent (50 of 141 patients), above the 27 percent national average he cited, and a discharge‑home rate of 9.2 percent (13 of 141), compared with a national average of 9.9 percent.

Lyle also reviewed operational metrics: as of Feb. 28, 2025, call volume was up 9.5 percent year‑to‑date compared with 2024, the county’s deployment model uses nine ambulances (24 hours each), five additional ambulances on peak shifts, two quick‑response vehicles (QRVs) and one shift supervisor. He said the EMS system supplied 9,001 continuing medical education hours systemwide last year across roughly 160 providers (about 56 hours per person on average). Lyle told the board seven new ambulances were scheduled for delivery in August 2025.

Why it matters: the program expands EMS’s role in linking overdose survivors to treatment and provides short‑term medication while referrals are arranged, a model designed to reduce repeat overdoses and emergency re‑contacts.

Next steps: county staff will proceed with hiring the second community paramedic and a caseworker, implement the medication‑assisted therapy under approved protocols and return to the board with any required program updates.