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Baltimore’s community paramedic teams report outreach and naloxone leave‑behind; buprenorphine inductions still rare
Summary
Department leaders described community paramedic outreach, post‑overdose follow‑up and naloxone leave‑behind efforts that officials say have helped reduce 9‑1‑1 overdoses; leaders also said buprenorphine inductions in the field have not yet been completed due to clinical contraindications and service barriers.
Deputy Chief Timothy Collin and EMS leaders told the Public Safety Committee that Baltimore’s community paramedic and harm‑reduction units are doing on‑scene outreach and post‑overdose follow‑up, distributing naloxone and attempting to connect high‑risk users to long‑term treatment, but that buprenorphine inductions in the field have not yet taken place.
Deputy Chief Collin described two core activities: on‑scene harm‑reduction outreach (including naloxone distribution and brief interventions) and a post‑overdose outreach program that reviews recent 9‑1‑1 calls and attempts to contact patients for follow‑up. Collin said the outreach team has attempted or completed outreach to roughly 30 identified patients in the post‑overdose program and that two patients were enrolled into an ARP (treatment) program with daily follow‑up.
Collin and EMS leaders also highlighted a leave‑behind naloxone effort. At the hearing officials reported different cumulative figures; Deputy Chief Collin said the program had distributed about 2,705 naloxone kits earlier in the presentation and later reported the leave‑behind total had reached approximately 29,600 doses “as of last week.” The department pointed to a related trend: the city’s reported 9‑1‑1 suspected overdoses declined year‑over‑year while naloxone leave‑behind and community outreach increased.
On buprenorphine, department leaders told the committee the population health and outreach teams have not yet completed field inductions for buprenorphine. Officials cited clinical contraindications — most commonly polysubstance use — and patient refusal as obstacles. The department described active coordination with the Health Department and local hospitals to improve referral pathways and to provide a smoother bridge from field contact to long‑term medication treatment.
Ending: Council members asked the department for more granular district‑level overdose data to target outreach and to continue expanding treatment referrals and partnerships with hospitals and community providers.
