TY - JOUR
T1 - “Opening the door to somebody who has a chance.” – The experiences and perceptions of public safety personnel towards a public restroom overdose prevention alarm system
AU - Buchheit, Bradley M.
AU - Crable, Erika L.
AU - Lipson, Sarah K.
AU - Drainoni, Mari Lynn
AU - Walley, Alexander Y.
N1 - Funding Information:
All of the medical center public safety personnel, specifically Connie Packard and William Gibbons. James Moses and the medical center quality and patient safety team who helped advocate for installation of the anti-motion alarm systems.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Background: Opioid overdose deaths have surged due to fentanyl in the illicit opioid supply, which causes overdose more rapidly than other opioids. Public restrooms are venues where fentanyl overdoses commonly occur. In response, some organizations have implemented anti-motion alarm systems as a prevention approach. We aimed to describe the experiences and perceptions of public safety personnel after the installation of an anti-motion alarm system in public restrooms at an urban medical center. Methods: From February to June 2019, we conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews to explore the experiences and perceptions of hospital public safety personnel who responded to overdoses in public restrooms with and without an anti-motion alarm system. We interviewed 11 personnel, with interviews lasting an average of twenty-six minutes. We conducted inductive thematic analysis to synthesize and identify salient themes. Results: Ten participants were male; the average age was 40 with an average time employed by the hospital of 12 years. Four themes were identified: Public safety personnel 1) believe responding to overdoses is an appropriate responsibility; 2) focus on their training rather than individual emotions when responding to an overdose; 3) view the anti-motion alarm system as an acceptable tool for preventing overdoses, despite technological challenges; and 4) report concern for potential unintended consequences of the anti-motion alarm system. Conclusions: Overdose response in public restrooms has been incorporated into the daily duties of public safety personnel at an academic medical center. Anti-motion alarm systems are an innovation with potential to improve overdose response and safety, though the technology warrants ongoing development and unintended consequences should be assessed. To optimize restroom safety in the midst of fentanyl use, more research is needed among first responders, people who use drugs in restrooms, and other restroom patrons.
AB - Background: Opioid overdose deaths have surged due to fentanyl in the illicit opioid supply, which causes overdose more rapidly than other opioids. Public restrooms are venues where fentanyl overdoses commonly occur. In response, some organizations have implemented anti-motion alarm systems as a prevention approach. We aimed to describe the experiences and perceptions of public safety personnel after the installation of an anti-motion alarm system in public restrooms at an urban medical center. Methods: From February to June 2019, we conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews to explore the experiences and perceptions of hospital public safety personnel who responded to overdoses in public restrooms with and without an anti-motion alarm system. We interviewed 11 personnel, with interviews lasting an average of twenty-six minutes. We conducted inductive thematic analysis to synthesize and identify salient themes. Results: Ten participants were male; the average age was 40 with an average time employed by the hospital of 12 years. Four themes were identified: Public safety personnel 1) believe responding to overdoses is an appropriate responsibility; 2) focus on their training rather than individual emotions when responding to an overdose; 3) view the anti-motion alarm system as an acceptable tool for preventing overdoses, despite technological challenges; and 4) report concern for potential unintended consequences of the anti-motion alarm system. Conclusions: Overdose response in public restrooms has been incorporated into the daily duties of public safety personnel at an academic medical center. Anti-motion alarm systems are an innovation with potential to improve overdose response and safety, though the technology warrants ongoing development and unintended consequences should be assessed. To optimize restroom safety in the midst of fentanyl use, more research is needed among first responders, people who use drugs in restrooms, and other restroom patrons.
KW - Fatal overdose
KW - Harm reduction
KW - Opioids
KW - Overdose prevention
KW - Public drug use
KW - Restroom drug use
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096713956&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85096713956&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103038
DO - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103038
M3 - Article
C2 - 33232885
AN - SCOPUS:85096713956
SN - 0955-3959
VL - 88
JO - International Journal of Drug Policy
JF - International Journal of Drug Policy
M1 - 103038
ER -