This podcast episode, part of the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program (or COAP) podcast series, discusses the Quick Response Team (QRT) model for overdose response and prevention.
In this podcast, Amanda Auerbach, consulting administrator at TASC Center for Health and Justice, and Daniel Meloy, a national presenter on the subject of community heroin and opioid response, discuss the Quick Response Team (QRT) model for overdose response and prevention. QRTs are pre-arrest diversion (deflection) programs that involve interdisciplinary overdose follow-up and engagement with survivors to link individuals to treatment during the critical period following overdose. QRTs originated in Colerain Township, Ohio, and spread across the Appalachian region. QRTs have applications for communities across the country challenged by the opioid epidemic and recurring overdoses and overdose deaths. Meloy describes the origin of QRT, describes the QRT model in practice, discusses stakeholder engagement and developing critical partnerships to implement QRTs, and presents challenges and successes of the Colerain Township QRT. This podcast episode is part of the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program (or COAP) podcast series.