PHLR grantees Caleb Banta-Green, PhD, MPH, MSW, and Patricia C. Kuszler, MD, JD, of the University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute released an issue brief of an evaluation of the legal intent, implementation, and outcomes of the 911 Good Samaritan Law.
The legal intent of the law was examined through document reviews and interviews with legislators and other stakeholders and changes in the behavior of drug users, police, and paramedics during heroin overdoses were also reviewed.
To understand how the law impacts behaviors and deaths, quantitative and qualitative methods were used to study its implementation. Among the outcomes examined are the pre-post tests of changes in the rates of opioid overdose (fatal and non-fatal); 911 overdose call volume and severity; and naloxone administration by lay persons and medical professionals.
This is the first such evaluation of its type in the United States. A full report will be available in 2012.
Study contacts:
Caleb Banta-Green, PhD, MPH, MSW (Project Director)
calebbg@uw.edu
Phone: (206) 685-3919
Patricia C. Kuszler, MD, JD (Project Director)
kuszler@uw.edu
Phone: (206) 685-0511