On Monday, the Chandler Fire Department announced the launch of the Crisis Intervention Opioid Response Unit, known as CR2840. The department has been testing the new opioid response unit since the first of the year.
The goal is to work with hospitals and local agencies to reduce opioid overdoses.
“The purpose of the program, one of the purposes, is to provide a pathway to recovery,” said Yasmin Barker, senior crisis interventionist for Chandler Fire Department. “So we’re hoping if it’s not this time a person takes or wants treatment, we’ll get it next time.”
Social workers and counselors work with first responders to provide emotional care and resources on the scene during emergency calls. The unit can also be dispatched through a non-emergency phone number or email.
“You know we respond with fire and police already and have for the last more than 20 years now,” Barker said. “So we’ve been doing that for quite some time and I think this is another avenue to help people with resources but also getting them treatment, but also a path to recovery.”
Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of opioids, will be carried and given to patients through nasal spray. The drug helps the body return breathing back to normal if opioids have slowed normal breath rates. Responders will also give Narcan to friends or family to prevent future overdoses.
“'Cause it's not just a crisis to the person that the fire department is administering a Narcan to but also to whoever lives in that home and whoever is important in that person’s life,” Barker said.
Barker said the unit does everything from finding treatment programs and family support to offering services for people to use intoxicators in a safer environment if they are not ready to quit.
“We wanted to make sure we were putting it in the hands of the community so they could use it on whoever,” Barker said. “We really want to equip the citizens of Chandler with whatever they might need to help in a crisis because it truly does take everybody.”
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