Portland leaders officially approve funding for PF&R's overdose response team

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After receiving approval from city leaders, Portland Fire & Rescue will officially launch its overdose response team next month.

At a city council meeting on Wednesday morning, Mayor Ted Wheeler and four city commissioners unanimously voted in favor of health insurance agency CareOregon's $389,577 grant for the pilot program.

Whereas Portland Street Response focuses on residents experiencing mental and behavioral health crises, PF&R's new “Mobile Medication for Opioid Use Disorder” pilot is more focused on preventing overdose deaths.

Through the program, the city’s Community Health Assess and Treat team will administer medication to people on the site of an emergency, instead of after they’ve been hospitalized. CHAT will provide Narcan, the overdose reversal medication also known as naloxone, and buprenorphine, a medication that treats opioid use disorder.

According to PF&R, the team will also direct patients to addiction treatment resources in the area, such as “drug counseling” and “after-care services.”

“Portland's surge in opioid overdoses has devastated our first responders and unsheltered residents,” Commissioner Rene Gonzalez said in a statement. “After visiting all 31 Portland fire stations in 2023, the urgent need for an alternative solution to how our city handles overdose calls, particularly in Old Town/Chinatown, became clear."

The program is a joint effort between the fire agency, Multnomah County Health Department’s Emergency Medical Services division, the Oregon Poison Center and CareOregon.

The program will begin on on Feb. 5. Afterward, it will operate every Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The contract ends on June 30, 2025. Officials will determine the success of the program by monitoring how many residents CHAT serves, the number of medications administered, the number of patients directed to local treatment facilities and more.

“Portland will be among the first U.S. cities using both medications during active overdose crises to save lives, and then block the most severe withdrawal symptoms,” Gonzalez.