About Five Minutes to Help

The opioid epidemic facing this country is a well-known, well-documented public health crisis. It is impacting individuals and families by the tens of thousands, and there are likely very few people in New Jersey who do NOT know at least one person whose life has been touched. 

At the front lines of this epidemic are first responders of all types, including Paramedics, EMTs, Fire, and Law Enforcement, who are called to respond to opioid overdoses on a daily basis – often reviving the same individual multiple times in just a matter of days or even hours. The number of patients that refuse transport, or are transported but leave the hospital prior to being registered, are estimated at over 60% in some areas of the state.  In these cases, the First Responder is the only medical professional those patients will see. ( … continue reading)