How Milwaukee County is Fighting the Opioid Epidemic Through EMS Partnerships and a Mobile Integrative Healthcare Team
To fight the ongoing opioid epidemic, the Medical College of Wisconsin along with the West Allis Fire Department and the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management have partnered to implement a Mobile Integrative Healthcare (MIH) program. This has proven to reduce overdose incidents and deaths.
This 24/7 MIH team directly assistants individuals in their homes or preferred environments. They connect patients with critical services such as medication-assisted treatment, harm-reduction materials and wrap-around care. To expand care, the MIH team introduced and initiated medication treatment by using buprenorphine to help with opioid withdrawal symptoms.
“The addition of buprenorphine to the Wisconsin EMS Scope of Practice was intended to provide EMS agencies with additional resources to mitigate the devastating impact of Substance Abuse Disorder in our communities…” states M. Riccardo Colella, DO, MPH, Wisconsin State EMS and Trauma Systems Medical Director, Professor of Emergency Medicine and EMS at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
The close partnership has laid the foundation for sustained collaboration in addressing substance use disorder in Milwaukee.