A NOTE from the CEO Innovations in Care for Opioid Use Disorder At the CARESTAR Foundation, we are fully engaged in systems improvement in emergency response in California. We are opening the door to the big conversations of care delivery (providing the right care from the right provider at the right time), and moving the focus back to the patient’s specific needs.  We aim to refine and enhance crisis response so that it is more realistically aligned with the challenges of our communities. To that end, we support strengthened connections and partnerships in injury prevention, emergency response and trauma care -- and we are excited about the progress being made by our grantees. As one investment in the reorientation of emergency response, CARESTAR has just awarded $450,000 over two years to the CA Bridge Program, which is working to improve care for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). See below for how they are piloting a model in which EMS responders start treatment directly from the ambulance, and follow-up care is coordinated through partnerships.

JULY GRANT Highlights

  " I t is about changing the practices of EMS providers and creating systems that integrate EMS, acute care hospitals, and public health." - The CA Bridge Program EMS Director Gene Hern, MD, in a training video for EMS responders ‌

The pilot program involves these components: ·   Initiation of buprenorphine (medication-assisted treatment) by EMS personnel – speeding and broadening its use more equitably ·   A direct data link between EMS responders and the Department of Public Health, with 72- hour patient follow-up by a Substance Use Navigator ·   Public access to NARCAN, a quick-acting overdose prevention drug ·   Designation of Contra Costa Regional Medical Center as an opioid overdose receiving center with specialized resources 

 “Contra Costa is the first county to embark on the novel approach of empowering paramedics to treat opioid addiction on the spot from the ambulance. This is groundbreaking work that has implications for the rest of the state,” says Gene Hern, MD, EMS Director of CA Bridge, and an emergency physician. He adds, “By extending a feasible, cost-effective intervention through EMS, we hope to further break down the systematic exclusion of communities of color and low income from OUD treatment options beyond methadone. EMS response to overdose represents a tremendous opportunity to improve care.” EXCELLENT Reads : See how a CARESTAR grantee is deploying community paramedics to prevent COVID-19 in the midst of San Francisco's unsheltered population: https://www.chcf.org/blog/san-francisco-puts-community-paramedics-front-lines-pandemic/ . COMING Next Month : CARESTAR is proud to be a sponsor of the 2020 Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI) Virtual Conference, Sept. 29-Oct.1. We're excited to participate in this important national gathering! https://www.thehavi.org/2020-conference   Please stay vigilant and healthy in the weeks to come.

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Our Mission The CARESTAR Foundation’s mission is to strengthen connections and foster partnerships in California’s injury prevention, emergency response, and trauma care landscape to improve health outcomes for all Californians

Our Vision Our vision is that all Californians will benefit from a more coordinated emergency response system, sustained by a deeply connected network of partners, shared best practices, and innovative solutions for injury and trauma prevention.

© July 2020 CARESTAR Foundation. All rights reserved.