The Authors’ Own Words: Ambulance-attended opioid overdoses: an examination into overdose locations and the role of a safe injection facility

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Ambulance-attended opioid overdoses: an examination into overdose locations and the role of a safe injection facility

Desiree Madah-Amiri, PhD; Arne Kristian Skulberg, MD; Anne-Cathrine Braarud, MD, PhD; Ola Dale, MD; Fridtjof Heyerdahl, MD, PhD; Philipp Lobmaier, MD, PhD; & Thomas Clausen, MD, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 3, 2019

“This manuscript explores what role a safe injection facility may have on opioid overdoses attended by ambulance services in Oslo, Norway. The findings from the study show that overdoses often occurred at the safe injection facility and that patients had more severe clinical symptoms there than from other locations. However, these patients were less likely to receive ambulance transport, and when the facility was closed, there was a 40% increased odds for patients to need ambulance transport for further medical treatment. Together the results suggest that people at risk of overdosing use the safe injection facility, and that there is difference in overdose patterns when the facility was closed.”