Center for Public Health Workforce Development
Center for Public Health Workforce Development
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.
We are all aware that nothing changes if nothing changes. In an effort to encourage overdose victims to consider assistance, Five Minutes to Help was envisioned by the NJ Department of Health’s Office of Emergency Medical Services. The goal: to arm New Jersey’s first responders with new knowledge and communication skills that can be applied on the scene, post-overdose reversal, to encourage patients to seek help for their addiction and increase their awareness of available recovery resources in their communities.
Successful application of the concepts taught in this curriculum has been well-documented in many health and counseling environments; however, applying it on the scene of a post-overdose scenario is new territory. Given the expansiveness of this epidemic, we know that compassion fatigue may be significant and that implementation may require not only a change in the culture of agencies, but likely a change in the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of individual responders. Thank you for participating in the effort to do so.
The curriculum was developed by the Rutgers School of Public Health – Center for Public Health Workforce Development. With input from addiction specialists, social workers and educators, a pilot training session was delivered in July 2019 to a group of 34 experienced EMS Instructors. Based on the feedback and evaluation received from this group, modifications were made to both the content and delivery of the information. Those modifications are reflected in this Instructor’s Guide.
This course is only to be taught by those who have participated in Instructor Training.
This effort remains a work in progress. We continue to welcome feedback of any type, and will incorporate changes and updates as evaluation data is gathered. Questions or comments can be directed to the Office of Emergency Medical Services at (609) 633-7777 or ems@doh.nj.gov or Colleen McKay Wharton at Rutgers Center for Public Health Workforce Development at c.mckaywharton@rutgers.edu or 732-235-3454.