NFPA announces theme for Fire Prevention Week
The theme for Fire Prevention Week, which will be observed October 7-13, is “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware—fire can happen anywhere.”™ In announcing this theme, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) explained that statistics show that if you have a reported fire in your home, you are more likely to die today than you were a few decades ago. The theme identifies basic but essential ways people can reduce their risk of fire and be prepared if one occurs: Look for places fire can start. Listen for the sound of the smoke alarm. Learn two ways out of each room. Fire departments can obtain information and resources about this year’s campaign at www.firepreventionweek.org.
NVFC offers courses free, compliments of Motorola
The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is offering online courses free for a limited time, compliments of Motorola Solutions Foundation. “Fit for Duty, Fit for Life: Firefighter Physicals and the Volunteer Fire Service” provides an overview of the types of physicals available to fire department members and the reasons that annual medical evaluations are important. Included also is a personal testimonial from NVFC Chair Kevin D. Quinn, who explains how a firefighter physical saved his life.
“Decreasing the Risks Involved with Emergency Response” provides best practices for arriving at the emergency scene and returning to the fire station safely. There are components on backing up, distracted driving, tankers and tenders, and privately owned vehicles. Departments may download sample standard operating procedures/guidelines. For details on how to take this course through the NVFC virtual classroom, go to https://www.nvfc.org/access-the-nvfc-virtual-classroom/.
According to a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study, treatment of opioid use disorder with either methadone or buprenorphine following a nonfatal opioid overdose is associated with significant reductions in opioid-related mortality. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was co-funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, both parts of the NIH.
>Data from 17,568 adults in Massachusetts who survived an opioid overdose between 2012 and 2014 were analyzed. It was found that subjects who received medication-assisted treatment showed a decrease in opioid overdose deaths of 59 percent for those receiving methadone and 38 percent for those receiving buprenorphine over the 12-month follow-up period. Buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD); the study did not include naltrexone because of the small sample size. These results confirm previous research that methadone and buprenorphine can effectively treat OUD and prevent future deaths from overdose, the NIH explains.
However, the NIH notes, despite these results, these medications have been greatly underused. Moreover, according to the study, in the first year following an overdose, fewer than one-third of the patients were given any medication for OUD, including methadone (11 percent); buprenorphine (17 percent); and naltrexone (6 percent).
In an editorial commenting on the study, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIDA, said, “A great part of the tragedy of this opioid crisis is that, unlike in previous such crises America has seen, we now possess effective treatment strategies that could address it and save many lives, yet tens of thousands of people die each year because they have not received these treatments. Ending the crisis will require changing policies to make these medications more accessible and educating primary care and emergency providers, among others, that opioid addiction is a medical illness that must be treated aggressively with the effective tools that are available.” The editorial was co-authored by NIDA scientist Dr. Eric Wargo.
An even more alarming finding of the study was that 34 percent of people who had experienced an overdose were subsequently prescribed one or more prescriptions for an opioid painkiller over the next 12 months; 26 percent were prescribed benzodiazepines. Marc Larochelle, M.D., the study’s lead investigator at Boston Medical Center’s Grayken Center for Addiction and Boston University School of Medicine, states: “Nonfatal opioid overdose is a missed opportunity to engage individuals at high risk of death. We need to better understand barriers to treatment access and implement policy and practice reforms to improve both engagement and retention in effective treatment.”
The study authors conclude the following: “A nonfatal opioid overdose treated in the emergency department is a critical time to identify people with OUD and an opportunity to offer patients access to treatment inventions, providing linkage to care following their discharge, and making improvements in treatment retention.”
Larochelle, et al. “Medication for opioid use disorder after nonfatal opioid overdose and association with mortality.” A cohort study (link is external). Annals of Internal Medicine. June 19, 2018.
Volkow, N. and Wargo, E. “Overdose Prevention Through Medical Treatment of Opioid Use Disorders.” Annals of Internal Medicine. June 19, 2018.
NIH News Release at: https://bit.ly/2tasVqB.
Disaster Information Research site updated
The National Library of Medicine has redesigned its Disaster Information Management Research Center Web site https://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/ and the Disaster Lit® database https://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/disaster-lit. The site provides access to key resources on natural and man-made disasters and public health emergencies such as emerging infectious diseases.
The Disaster Lit database complements PubMed with information from hundreds of sources concerning disasters and public health emergencies. The Disaster Health Information Guides are linked directly to searches of Disaster Lit and PubMed to ensure that the latest articles and resources are readily available.
NEMSAC members appointed
The U.S. Department of Transportation has named 24 leaders from the emergency medical services, health care, and other stakeholder communities to serve on the National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC). NEMSAC will advise and recommend to the Department of Transportation and the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS. The members will serve a two-year term. The next meeting of NEMSAC is expected to be held later this year. It will be open to the public; details will be released as soon as it is scheduled. To learn more about NEMSAC and to sign up to receive email updates, visit https://www.ems.gov/nemsac.html/.
The Council members and the groups they represent on the committee follow: Kathleen Adelgais, MD, MPH, pediatric emergency physicians, Golden, CO; Mary Ahlers, MEd, BSN, EMS educators, Cincinnati, OH; Shawn Baird, MA, Private EMS, Portland, OR; Cherie Bartram, call taker/dispatchers, Richmond, MI; Richard Bradley, MD, emergency physicians, Houston, TX; Steven Diaz, MD, FACEP, FAAFP, hospital administrators, Augusta, ME; Eric Emery, Tribal EMS, Rosebud, S.D.; Mary Fallat, MD, trauma surgeons, Louisville, KY; Val Gale, local EMS service administrators, Gilbert, AZ; Brett Garrett, EMS practitioners, McCalla, AL; Sean Kaye, EMS data managers, Chapel Hill, NC; Lori Knight, RN, emergency management, Placentia, CA.; Nanfi Lubogo, consumers, Cromwell, CT; Chad McIntyre, air medical, Jacksonville, FA; William “Mike” McMichael, volunteer EMS, Rehoboth Beach, DE; Anne Montera, BSN, public health, Eagle, CO; Chuck O’Neal, state EMS directors; Berea, KY; Matthew Powers, RN, MS, emergency nurses, Pleasant Hills, CA; Vincent Robbins, MS, FACHE, hospital-based EMS, Hamilton Square, NJ; Freddie Rodriguez, state/local legislative bodies, Pomona, CA; Peter Taillac, MD, EMS medical directors, Salt Lake City, UT; John Tobin, fire-based career EMS, Phoenix, AZ; Jonathan Washko, EMS quality improvement, Northport, NY; and Lynn White, MS, EMS researchers, Copley, OH.
NFPA: 60 firefighter line-of-duty deaths in 2017
In 2017, 60 U.S. firefighters died in the line of duty, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Among other statements included in the NFPA report were the following:
- 17 firefighter deaths occurred while operating at fires.
- Sudden cardiac death accounted for 29 deaths.
- Two firefighters were killed and one was injured by a vehicle operated by a drunken driver at the scene of a down power line.
June 10. Firefighter Douglas C. Ambrozewycz, 60, Perth Amboy (NJ) Fire Department: burns and complications resulting from a floor collapse in a structural fire in December 1983.
June 10. Firefighter Richard “Andy” Loller Jr., 42, Weatherford (TX) Fire Department: medical emergency suffered while fighting a wildfire.
June 14. Firefighter William Moore IV, 48, Amelia County Volunteer Fire Department–Station 1, Amelia Court House, Virginia: heart attack suffered during training.
June 24. Firefighter/EMT Joe Patterson, 33, Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District, Greenfield, OH: injuries sustained when a compressed air cylinder exploded.
June 25. Captain David Robert Rosa, 45, Long Beach (CA) Fire Department: shot while responding to a reported fire.
June 26. Fire Cadet Devon Coney, 33, Austin (TX) Fire Department: medical emergency suffered while performing physical fitness activities.
June 27. Lieutenant Benny Hutchins, 62, Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department: medical emergency suffered while participating in a survival training course on June 25.
July 4. Lieutenant Michael F. Cherubini, 71, Hague (NY) Volunteer Department: the nature and cause of the medical emergency are still to be determined.
July 4. Firefighter Michael Goodnight, 55, West Liberty Fire Department, Salisbury, NC: traffic accident.
July 10. Captain Cory Barr, 34, Sun Prairie (WI) Volunteer Fire Department: natural gas explosion.
July 14. Firefighter Zachary J. Fazekas, 19, New Hyde Park (NY) Fire Department: motorcycle accident.
July 14. Firefighter/Equipment Operator Braden Varney, 36, Cal Fire, Sacramento, CA: injuries sustained when the bulldozer he was operating at a wildland fire overturned and rolled down a ridge.
