Two months and going strong – PORT provides vital EMS and community opioid help

HEALTH; COMMUNITY NEWS

ORANGE COUNTY—Orange County’s Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) began service on July 1, 2024. PORT is a unique team that responds with and/or separately to calls from Orange County EMS regarding opioid overdoses. Although it is only two months old, PORT’s track record is stellar.

What is PORT?

The Post-Overdose Response Support Team (PORT) is a group of professionals who currently boast an 85% success rate in connecting individuals to treatment. PORT is servicing individuals in Orange County who have received medications for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).

According to PORT documents, the team consists of two community paramedics: paramedics from the agency with specialized training and a passion for working in this capacity and a peer support specialist (PSS) with lived experience and an unmatched ability to understand where someone is in their journey and meet them exactly there.

In addition, the PORT team has made direct contact with 100% of those referred to the program, filling a gap in service for community members struggling with OUD since July 2024.

What are opioids?

Opioids are a class of drugs that include both pain relievers prescribed by a doctor (such as Vicodon®, OxyContin®, Percocet®, and morphine) and illicit drugs (such as heroin and most types of fentanyl). Visit MorePowerfulNC to learn more about the various types of opioids.

In July 2021, Attorney General Stein announced a historic $26 billion national agreement with the three largest drug distributors plus the drug maker Johnson & Johnson (J&J), an agreement that will bring as much as $750 million to North Carolina communities to address the opioid epidemic. All 100 counties and 47 municipalities in North Carolina have formally joined the agreement. According to Landon Weaver, Bureau Chief of Community Health and Safety for Orange County Emergency Services, PORT evolved from this settlement and is funded entirely by outside sources.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, “From 2000-2022, more than 36,000 North Carolinians lost their lives to drug overdose. This epidemic is devastating families and communities. It is overwhelming medical providers and is straining prevention and treatment efforts.”

What does PORT do?

“The initial concept of a PORT was that they would come in and provide contact with that person within 24 to 72 hours. So far, we have made direct contact with 100% of our community members struggling with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD),” said Weaver.

“While connecting people to treatment is a great outcome, our team measures success by connecting participants with the resources they need based upon their expressed opinions,” said Weaver.

The purpose of PORT is to keep people who are experiencing OUD safe and alive by filling a gap in opioid-use-related services. The services provided by PORT are based on what the individual wants. This can range from something as simple as a text message or a reassuring phone call to the team hand-delivering naloxone, sterile syringes, and other harm-reduction supplies. The team can progress to helping them begin medication-assisted treatment (MAT). According to PORT’s press release, the treatment can occur at their home, and they will be connected with an ongoing treatment plan that fits their unique needs.

PORT receives referrals directly from 911 when they receive calls with any indicator of withdrawal or substance use. Weaver explained that the team is unique in several ways: “They are specialized staff with specific training and can dedicate more time and ongoing time to anyone interested in any services we offer.”

They also are referred through a partnership with the Criminal Justice Resource Department’s (CJRD) Lantern Project. According to PORT documents, the Lantern Project is a reentry program that supports justice-involved people with histories of substance use by connecting them to therapeutic support as soon as possible.

What does PORT do?

PORT can remain on the scene after an EMS incident has concluded and the ambulance has departed. The patient can spend however much time with the team discussing options or being connected to services. However, when the patient does not want assistance, PORT will respect the individual’s decision.

Another unique service is that PORT is the only field EMS staff able to administer MAT or buprenorphine. The team also consists of the only PSS we as an agency have on staff who can relate and provide a degree of compassion and understanding essential to gaining trust.

“The PORT is a much-needed additional layer to our EMS system,” said Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders. “These specialized, trained staff can dedicate more time to people with OUD, such as remaining on the scene with a patient after an EMS incident to discuss options and connect them to services.”

“They [the PORT team] are a dispatchable resource in real-time. We embedded them in the 911 system, which, of course, is housed with us in the emergency services center in Orange County,” said Weaver.

Is there any cost involved to the individual?

The Post-Overdose Response Team consists of a peer support specialist and a community paramedic and is available every day of the year from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All services provided by PORT are free of charge, non-coercive, individual-focused, and always conducted with an emphasis on respect and confidentiality of the individual. If interested in these services, please contact the team directly or complete this form.

PORT is not a drug enforcement agency

Being mistaken for law enforcement is sometimes an issue. “That is certainly a barrier that we have tried to be incredibly deliberate with navigating and conscious of,” said Weaver. He is in the process of providing the team with distinct uniforms and transportation markings that would distinguish the team from law enforcement.

Weaver explained, “From a law enforcement perspective, Orange County is unique in that all our of law enforcement agencies have carried naloxone on their person for a decade. And I believe we were the first county in the state to roll that out to all law enforcement agencies.The fact of the matter is we’re all on the same page and we communicate with them readily, you know, to make sure that we’re all fighting the same fight and that they understand what we’re trying to accomplish and how we’re trying to help make sure that they can be incorporated in that whenever possible.”

Michelle Cassell is a seasoned reporter who has covered everything from crime to hurricanes and local politics to human interest over the course of 35 years. As managing editor, she hopes to encourage writers of a wide range of backgrounds and interests in TLR’s coverage of Southern Orange County news.
This reporter can be reached at Info@TheLocalReporter.press