*Accept and appropriate grant for $389,577 from CareOregon, Inc. for a flexible response program to address overdoses and pilot a mobile Medication for Opioid Disorder Provision Program

This ordinance allows Portland Fire & Rescue to accept and appropriate a grant from CareOregon for a flexible response program to address overdoses and pilot a mobile Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Provision Program. The Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Program (MOUD) is a collaboration between Multnomah County EMS, CareOregon and Portland Fire & Rescue. This program will provide direct access to medication to treat opioid overdose in the community at the time of the 911 call. The CHAT team will enroll pilot study participants and treat them in community, rather than using vital resources to transport patients to the Emergency Room. Additionally, this pilot program will connect the patient directly to a treatment center that offers wrap around services for substance use disorder including, patient navigation and aftercare services. This collaboration between Multnomah County, CareOregon and Portland Fire & Rescue is a result of our collective goal to provide direct access to drug treatment and recovery services at the time of the 911 call. Providing timely access to treatment services will work to decrease Substance Use Disorder within the City of Portland and improve population health over time. Access to Buprenorphine by EMS is associated with a nearly 6-fold increase in the odds of engagement with substance use disorder treatment. Pilot program operations will follow normal CHAT operating hours, Monday – Thursday, 7:30AM to 6PM. Aftercare and patient navigation will occur daily.

This action will increase Portland Fire & Rescue’s Grant Fund appropriation by $389,577 for FY 2023-24. There is no match required by this grant. The Grant number is FR000045.

This program will reduce overdose deaths, increase access to life saving medications, and pave the way for lasting recovery for our community members. From June 2019 to May 2020, there was a 50% increase in fatal overdoses involving synthetic opioids here in Oregon (CDC, 2020). Death by overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with the cost of the opioid epidemic reaching $1.5 trillion in 2020. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends medication assisted treatment for substance use disorder to combat the growing opioid crisis, which is the aim of this program. Individuals who experience a non-fatal overdose related to opioids have a 13-fold increase in mortality compared to the general population with the greatest risk of death in the first 48 hours after Narcan administration (Weiner et al., 2020). Medications such as buprenorphine are safe, effective, and have been proven to reduce mortality related to substance use disorder by 62%. Because of the community work CHAT provides daily, we are able to directly impact the opioid crisis at the 911 call.