Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Harm Reduction topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Horry County Fire Rescue details harm‑reduction outreach and plans for mobile medication‑assisted treatment
Summary
Horry County Fire Rescue's harm‑reduction supervisor reported the team engaged 1,597 people in follow-ups, 2,834 through outreach, distributed 1,682 Narcan doses, and outlined a pilot to allow paramedics to initiate buprenorphine to improve linkage to treatment.
Christian Edwards, supervisor of the Horry County Fire Rescue harm‑reduction team, briefed council on outreach, prevention and treatment-linkage work and proposed a mobile medication‑assisted treatment (MAT) pilot that would allow paramedics to dose buprenorphine in the field and link patients to next‑day appointments.
“We're hoping to initiate a mobile medication assisted treatment program,” Edwards said, outlining a workflow in which a harm‑reduction paramedic would assess and, if appropriate, dose a patient with buprenorphine and arrange follow-up with local providers. Edwards reported the team has conducted 1,597 individual follow‑ups, engaged 2,834 people through outreach and distributed 1,682 doses of Narcan through the program. He said the county is pursuing Schedule III authorization for South Carolina paramedics and is coordinating with Prisma Health, the Department of Public Health and federal representatives including Rep. Russell Fry.
Edwards also described safety‑kit distribution (Narcan and testing supplies), library trainings and a proposal for increased prevention/education efforts in schools and the community.
