BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The city of Burlington has decided to continue the service of the Burlington Fire Department’s Community Response Team, or CRT.
The CRT responds to overdoses and unresponsive patient calls in the Queen City. BFD employees provide immediate, life-saving measures such as Narcan, provide respiratory support, and additional resources.
If a patient refuses care, they give them additional resources, such as overdose leave-behind kits.
The fire department says as of March 24th, the CRT has connected with individuals 1322 times and has seen a significant and consistent impact in their overdose numbers.
The CRT uses a department-owned vehicle staffed by volunteers getting paid overtime to respond to the calls. The CRT pilot was set for a six-month trial and was paid for with city opioid settlement funds.
The end date of the pilot was on April 14th, but city councilors and the fire department agreed that they’d like to see it continue.
“There is a strain on the human capital of this city as well, which are the men and women on the front lines in this department that were responding to so many calls last summer and this pilot program, the CRT, is really helping to reduce the strain on the employees,” said Burlington Firefighters’ Association President Kyle Blake during the city council meeting.
The CRT pilot program will be extended through the end of the city fiscal year 2024, or the end of available funding.
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