Safe Station | Brandeis Opioid Resource Connector

An innovative program model in New Hampshire that uses fire departments as an access point to treatment and other services

In May 2016, in an area that has been devastated by opioid-related overdoses, the Manchester Fire Department (MFD) in New Hampshire launched an innovative program called Safe Station. Part of the rational was that a person struggling with a substance use disorder (SUD) may be more comfortable seeking help from a fire department, often viewed as an institution that saves lives, rather than a police department or a hospital.

This community-based program, in which a person comes to a fire department to seek treatment for SUD, includes partners at local hospitals, transport services, regional access services, and SUD treatment centers. Any individual seeking help for a substance use problem can walk into one of the ten Manchester fire departments at any time of day or night to seek assistance. Fire fighters at these stations reported a strong willingness to participate in the program, noting that it is a part of their mission to save lives.

Safe Station can best be characterized as a connection to treatment and recovery with a focus on reducing barriers to accessing resources and providing a safe community for people with substance use and related problems. Safe Station has been replicated to many other fire departments in New Hampshire.

Safe Station is a prime example of a novel community-based response to the opioid crisis and a highly useful resource in the community.

Continuum of Care

Treatment

Harm Reduction

Type of Evidence

Peer-reviewed

Report with evaluation

Replicated

Response Approach

Crisis intervention

Early Intervention

Peer-reviewed Article

Implementation of a New Hampshire community-initiated response to the opioid crisis: A mixed-methods process evaluation of Safe Station

Safe Station.pdf

Evidence of Program Effectiveness

“A little over half said that opioids were the primary type of drug motivating them to seek help through Safe Station…a sampling of people that used the program were mostly white, male, educated, and low income…the key program characteristics emphasized by stakeholders include: 1) the immediacy of help (24/7 availability), 2) low-threshold access (e.g., no waiting lists, within walking distance in many instances), 3) free service for consumer use (essential for uninsured), 4) central access point for help in accessing services, 5) firefighters’ respectful and non-judgmental attitudes toward clients; and 6) the element of safety inherent to the program (e.g., no fear of judgment or arrest, medical attention, free from stress of being on the street). There was strong agreement across stakeholders that Safe Station is among the most helpful resources in the Manchester, NH community...Overall, the MFD’s Safe Station program is a prime example of a novel community-based response to the opioid crisis in NH…and a highly useful resource in the community." (Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, 2019)

"Community partners identified key program characteristics including firefighter compassion, low-threshold access, and immediacy of service linkage...All participants agreed that community partnerships are key to the program's success...Safe Station is a novel response to the opioid crisis in New Hampshire that offers immediate, non-judgmental access to services for persons with opioid use disorders requiring community-wide engagement and communication." (Moore et al., 2021)