The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps developed opioid rapid response training to provide frontline responders with knowledge of the opioid overdose crisis so they can prepare for opioid overdose spikes or related scenarios. State, local, tribal and territorial health agencies can access this training to support their agency’s efforts.
The online training provides a comprehensive overview of the current opioid overdose crisis in the United States and ways to address it. Topics include opioid overdose epidemiology, clinical aspects of opioids, harm reduction strategies, federal agency roles, opioid-involved polysubstance overdose deaths, opioids and infectious diseases, opioids in the workplace, combating opioid use disorder in pregnant women, and opioid use disorder cascade of care. Two versions of the training curriculum are available:
- A non-clinician version for staff serving in non-clinical roles, which is comprised of seven core sections and seven optional sections.
- A clinician version for staff serving in clinical roles, which is comprised of all the sections of the nonclinician version plus two additional sections that cover clinical topics in greater depth.