Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are typically the first on the scene of an accident or health emergency. They are first to assess the situation and determine the best route of action to take. In the case of an overdose, they have to estimate how long the person has been unconscious, what types of drugs they may have taken and what they should do next.

Before Naxolone (Narcan), an anti-overdose drug that saves lives, existed, EMS had to take all overdose patients to the closest hospital. Sometimes this takes too long and the person unfortunately passes away. But now that the life-saving drug Naxolone exists, EMS can administer it and save more overdose victims lives.

The only problem with this is that not all EMS workers are allowed to administer the drug. All advance EMS workers can administer it, but only 12 states allow basic EMS workers to handle it. Allowing all EMS workers to handle Naxolone could possibly save even more overdose victims, lowering the overdose rate greatly.