Training to reduce emergency responders’ perceived overdose risk from contact with fentanyl: early evidence of success

Overdose deaths involving opioids in the USA have skyrocketed 41.5% since 2010 [ 1 ], with a provisional count of over 47,105 deaths from August 2018 to August 2019 [ 2 ]. Synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl, have driven deaths in recent years due to their high potency and low overdose threshold. Indeed, death statistics in Missouri suggest over 75% of fatal opioid overdoses involved fentanyl in 2018 [ 3 ].