Matt Rourke/AP
A new program launched by Eagle County Paramedic Services in partnership with Eagle Valley Behavioral Health and Vail Health seeks to prevent opioid overdoses and death with the use of naloxone in the home.
“This is a harm reduction initiative,” said David Miller, a community paramedic at Eagle County Paramedics who is spearheading this program. “By distributing naloxone to patients who are abusing or are at risk of abusing opioids, including prescribed opioids after surgery, we’re hoping we can prevent opioid related deaths from overdose. It’s similar to having public access defibrillators in community spaces to assist people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.”
Eagle County Paramedic Services
International Women’s Day was honored for the first time in 2011 in Denmark, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A century later, March 8 is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
At Eagle County Paramedic Services, we see the gender difference in our field daily. According to the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, 34% of EMTs are female and only 21% of paramedics are female. In other first responder careers, approximately 12% of the national police force is female and only 4% of paid firefighters are women.
Daily file photo
This story has been corrected to reflect that all patients are eligible for the ET3 program.
The local ambulance district is set to join a federal pilot program that could reduce costs for some patients.
Eagle County Paramedic Services is a participant in a federal program called “ET3.” The acronym stands for “Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport.” The program’s intent is to give any patient options to avoid an ambulance ride to an emergency room. Those are expensive forms of care, for individuals, insurers and government agencies.
Kevin Creek, the district’s community health specialist, said the program will launch locally in March. Other ambulance services have launched the program in the first weeks of this year. The program is run by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
Like just about everything else about the COVID-19 virus, things can change rapidly. That’s true of the rollout of the vaccines for the virus.
The Vail Town Council Tuesday received an update about Eagle County’s vaccination program and had a number of questions.
Eagle County Public Health Director Heath Harmon provided the update, talking about what’s been a shifting landscape when it comes to vaccines.
Harmon noted that every week seems to bring something different in terms of vaccine supply, reserves or lack thereof and how to get as many doses as possible to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.