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First responders cut down on fentanyl use as medication

Anchorage-Middletown Fire and EMS's medical director said the goal is to make patients "comfortable and the pain tolerable" and that nitrogen works for some people.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Traditionally, when fire departments or Emergency Services need to help a patient at the scene or in the back of an ambulance with severe pain they would give the patient opioids like fentanyl.

But a little over a year ago, Anchorage-Middletown Fire and EMS (AMFEMS) started a different approach and began treating patients with nitrogen.

The fire department says the switch was due to studies showing an alarming number of people who become addicted to opioids due to the medications they receive during an emergency situation.

The department said nitrogen has been used to treat pain in hospitals for decades but not so much in the pre-hospital setting. 

They said now innovations in delivery methods and technology have made emergency crews able to utilize the medication easier and safer.

"It works, it works well in some people and in some people, it doesn't look well at all," AMFEMS Medical Director Tim Price said.

He added they don't look for 100% pain relief though.

"I don't think that's our goal, but it is to make patients much more comfortable and the pain tolerable so that they have a better experience than they would have either being in horrible pain or getting addicted to the opioids," Price said.

The department says they've had to administer nitrogen about 150 times over the past year and they say about three-quarters of the time the patient responds well to it and does not need any additional pain medication like fentanyl.

That means the department was able to avoid giving fentanyl to over 100 patients this past year.

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