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. 2025 Mar 28;22(1):43.
doi: 10.1186/s12954-025-01193-0.

"I don't let anybody die on my watch": perspectives on the intersection of community overdose response and emergency medical services among people who use drugs in Seattle, WA

Courteney Wettemann  1   2 , David L Perlmutter  3 , Tessa Frohe  4 , Taylor Ryan  3 , Grover Will Williams  2 , Nathan Holland  2 , Rachel Rourke  2 , Robert Pitcher  2 , Callan Elswick Fockele  5 , Brenda Goh  3 , Germaine Billingsley  2 , Jenna van Draanen  6   7   8
Affiliations

"I don't let anybody die on my watch": perspectives on the intersection of community overdose response and emergency medical services among people who use drugs in Seattle, WA

Courteney Wettemann et al. Harm Reduct J. .

Abstract

Background: The increasing implementation of harm reduction strategies such as take-home naloxone has placed people who use drugs (PWUD) in the position of overdose responders during overdose events, but the perspectives of PWUD are underrepresented in public health policy and practice concerning overdose response. We conducted this study to examine PWUD's perspectives on first response services for overdose and to learn how PWUD can be supported more effectively when they respond to overdoses.

Methods: The Research with Expert Advisors on Drug Use (READU) team, a community-based research team that includes academically trained researchers and people with lived and living experience conducted 13 semistructured interviews with PWUD in King County. The data were analyzed via thematic analysis. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to guide the development of the interview protocol and as a framework for qualitative codebook development.

Results: Participants were asked to describe their experiences with EMS, including police, during overdose response. Most had reversed an overdose themselves and demonstrated commitment to their role as overdose responders. Participants had mixed feelings about EMS involvement in overdose response, citing concerns about stigma and coercion. Police response was described as negatively impacting peer overdose response, with participants stating that past experiences of arrest and harassment by police during overdose response contributed to their reluctance to call 911 during an overdose.

Conclusion: The findings from this study demonstrate the important role of PWUD in overdose response and suggest that improving interactions between EMS and PWUD could positively impact future responses, including increasing PWUD's willingness to call 911 during overdose events.

Keywords: Emergency medical services; Harm reduction; Naloxone; Overdose response; People who use drugs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was reviewed and approved by the University of Washington Research Institutional Review Board. All participants provided informed consent prior to participating in this research study. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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