Objective: To help understand whether decreased emergency medical services (EMS) utilization due to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to increased accidental fatal drug overdoses, we characterized recent EMS utilization history among people who had an accidental opioid-involved fatal drug overdose in Rhode Island.
Methods: We identified accidental opioid-involved fatal drug overdoses among Rhode Island residents that occurred from January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2020. We linked decedents by name and date of birth to the Rhode Island EMS Information System to obtain EMS utilization history.
Results: Among 763 people who had an accidental opioid-involved fatal overdose, 51% had any EMS run and 16% had any opioid overdose-related EMS run in the 2 years before death. Non-Hispanic White decedents were significantly more likely than decedents of other races and ethnicities to have any EMS run (P < .001) and any opioid overdose-related EMS run (P = .05) in the 2 years before death. Despite a 31% increase in fatal overdoses from 2019 through 2020, corresponding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, EMS utilization in the prior 2 years, prior 180 days, or prior 90 days did not vary by time frame of death.
Conclusion: In Rhode Island, decreased EMS utilization because of the COVID-19 pandemic was not a driving force behind the increase in overdose fatalities observed in 2020. However, with half of people who had an accidental opioid-involved fatal drug overdose having an EMS run in the 2 years before death, emergency care is a potential opportunity to link people to health care and social services.
Keywords: COVID-19; emergency medical services; health care utilization; opioid overdose.