title: Responding to opioid overdose in Rhode Island: where the medical community has gone and where we need to go.
abstract: The number of opioid overdose events in Rhode Island has increased dramatically/catastrophically in the last decade; Rhode Island now has one of the highest per capita overdose death rates in the country. Healthcare professionals have an important role to play in the reduction of unintentional opioid overdose events. This article explores the medical community's response to the local opioid overdose epidemic and proposes strategies to create a more collaborative and comprehensive response. We emphasize the need for improvements in preventing, identifying and treating opioid addiction, providing overdose education and ensuring access to the rescue medicine naloxone.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is an affiliated researcher at The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at the Miriam Hospital and the Injury Prevention Center at Rhode Island Hospital.
authors.forename: Traci C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy.
authors.forename: Jef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bratberg
authors.affiliation: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
authors.forename: Emily F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Dauria
authors.affiliation: Attending Physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases, The Miriam Hospital, co-director of The Center for Health and Human Rights, and Professor of Medicine and Community Health at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
authors.forename: Josiah D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rich
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000633:toxicity*; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009270:Naloxone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D063487:Prescription Drug Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012237:Rhode Island / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D009270:Naloxone
keywords: Opiate addiction; healthcare professionals; opioid; overdose