Emergency Facilities and Ambulance Call-Outs for Overdoses in Norway

"The accident and emergency service in Oslo has a project called Prosjekt ungdom og rus på legevakta (‘Young people and alcohol/drugs at the accident and emergency service’), which is a specialised team that is part of the municipal emergency drug and alcohol facilities. In a collaboration between the municipality and the health authorities, the accident and emergency services in Oslo and Bergen have set up dedicated reception facilities for people with drug or alcohol problems, and observation beds for short-term admissions. Wards have been established in both Oslo and Bergen to take care of persons with drug or alcohol problems in emergency situations.

"The ambulance service is often called out to drug addicts who have overdosed. Figures from the emergency medical communication centre (AMK) for Oslo and Akershus show that a total of 3,300 ambulance call-outs in 2011 were due to overdoses. The AMK centre in Bergen registered 97 overdose call-outs relating to the use of opioids during the period October 2011–March 2012, compared with 224 in the previous half-year. In the same period, 108 call-outs relating to overdoses of GHB/GBL were registered, compared with 101 in the previous half-year. The AMK centre also registered 66 overdose call-outs where the type of drug was unknown during the
period October 2011–March 2012."