New Hampshire’s Project FIRST (First Responders Initiating Recovery Support and Treatment) aims to help emergency personnel to address the opioid crisis through training in overdose prevention and connecting at-risk individuals with treatment and recovery services through a post-overdose response.  Project FIRST’s goals are to decrease the number of nonfatal opioid overdoses and fatal opioid overdoses by increasing the number of: 1) first responders trained in administering naloxone; and 2) at-risk individuals referred to treatment and recovery resources.  

First responders, including emergency medical personnel and local police, are trained to reach out to individuals in their community who have overdosed to provide them and their families with information on appropriate treatment and recovery resources. More information can be found in this video.

New Hampshire’s Project FIRST is funded through a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant. Several communities in New Hampshire have been awarded the grant, including Concord, Salem, Dunbarton, Hooksett, Epping and Laconia, and the program is expanding into adjacent areas of the state.