Portsmouth Firefighters Give Overdosing Teen another Shot at Life

PORTSMOUTH, RI—A 19-year-old woman has a second chance at life and an opportunity to get help in recovery for her heroin addiction thanks to members of the Portsmouth Fire Department who on Saturday morning injected her unresponsive body with naloxone, reversing what was moments from becoming yet another fatal drug overdose.

Firefighters responded to a town address at around 11:50 a.m. after a report of an unresponsive female and arrived to find the woman unconscious and not breathing.

Her companion had performed rescue breathing on her until firefighters arrived, telling them that she had been using heroin.

Firefighters, who are also trained EMTs, went to work and inserted a breathing tube down her throat and connected a bag valve mask. They then administered the nalaxone, or narcan, and she "responded immediately to the medication with spontaneous respiration and regaining consciousness," said Portsmouth Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael P. O'Brien.

Portsmouth Rescue Crew 3 members, joined by Firefighters from Engine 1, performed 12 treatments during their 15 minutes on-scene during the effort to yank the young woman from death's cliff edge. The deputy chief said that the responders worked flawlessly to bring her back, a significant act in itself. But it was also significant because the woman was offered help from a recovery coach.

She's not the first overdose patient from Portsmouth (local crews have administered narcan nearly 50 times over the last three years), but she's the first to get the offer from EMTs while inside the ambulance. It's an important step long sought by advocates in the recovery community and a recommended practice by a recent overdose prevention and intervention task force convened by Governor Gina Raimondo. The state Department of Health is coordinating with first responders to equip them with recovery resources to give to their patients who are addicted to drugs, particularly opioids.

"Portsmouth has not been immune to the opiate epidemic; over the last 3 years we have responded to about 125 overdose emergencies and administered narcan on nearly 50 occasions," O'Brien said. "As a community, we must be aware of the problem and not fool ourselves into believing this isn’t happening here."

The young woman accepted the offer, O'Brein said, and will be working with a recovery coach to work to get clean and stay clean.

About 250 people died from overdoses in 2015 in Rhode Island. The rate of overdose deaths has increased by 250 percent since 2011.

"Those of us who have experienced the crisis firsthand understand that overdose and addiction do not discriminate," Deborah Parente, a Cranston resident who lost a son to overdose last year, said.

Part of the problem is the over-prescription of of opioids, which has put powerfully addictive substances within arm's reach of medicine cabinets everywhere. Among the task force's recommendations is tighter controls of opioid dosing with strict cutoff requirements except for severe and high-need patients.

Other elements of the plan include an increase in funding for recovery coaches, creating a central fund for naloxone supplies, better recovery services at the state prison and creating a model discharge and recovery plan for hospitals and medical centers.

See: Rhode Island Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force Action Plan

For the fire chief, the saving of the 19-year-old's life makes him grateful.

"This is the type of service we strive for; these responders continually train and prepare themselves to deliver the highest level of care possible," said Chief Michael Cranson. "I am grateful that they were able intervene and save this young woman’s life."

Responders from Rescue 3 included Lt. Michael Pinksaw and Firefighter Kyle Tiexiera. Capt. Howard Tighe, and Firefighters Brian Baker and Ryan Gill responded in Engine 1.