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Port Angeles’ "Operation Shielding Hope" credited with increased linkages to treatment; county overdose fatalities fall, officials say
Summary
City fire and police officials described a post-overdose response pilot that pairs community paramedics with police resource officers, reported high linkage-to-treatment rates when community paramedics arrive, and presented county-level reductions in overdose-fatality metrics following a year of implementation.
Port Angeles Fire Department and Police Department staff briefed the council on Operation Shielding Hope, a program funded with opioid-settlement money that expanded a post-overdose response and the scope of community paramedics to include field interventions and linkage to substance-use-disorder services.
Why it matters: presenters said the program directly addresses high local overdose rates by increasing immediate, on-scene engagement and referral to treatment services. Officials reported marked declines in county overdose-fatality rates during the program’s first year.
Fire Chief Daryl Sharp introduced the background and goals, and said the program aimed to equip outreach specialists, reduce repeat overdoses and increase access to medication for opioid use disorder. Sharp said the county previously had one of the highest overdose fatality rates in Washington and that high rates of survivor refusal for transport and treatment were limiting traditional 9‑1‑1 interventions.
Program rollout and scope…
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