Award of rural emergency medical services training grant

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded Heartland Education, Inc. a total of $297,000 through the Rural Emergency Medical Services Training Grant. This funding will enable HEI to continue to provide critical education and training to strengthen the role of emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and improve prehospital care across rural Oklahoma.

“This is our second year receiving this grant. We are extremely thankful for the opportunity to continue our mission and pursue our passion to recruit, educate, train, and prepare our EMS and First Responder professionals to provide the absolute best emergency medical care to the communities where they live and serve across rural Oklahoma,” said Dr. Bill Worden, Medical Director.

In addition to the $199,000 awarded to recruit and train EMS personnel in rural areas, an additional $98,000 was awarded for opioid training and response. “This additional funding will not only help with education and training in opioid overdose response but will enable us to distribute over 1000 doses of the opioid antagonist medication naloxone to our member agencies across the state.” said Dr. Worden.

According to SAMHSA, Overdose is common among persons who use illicit opioids such as heroin and among those who misuse medications prescribed for pain such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone, buprenorphine, and morphine. The incidence of opioid overdose is rising nationwide. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) at the CDC reports that more than 106,000 persons in the U.S. died from drug-involved overdose in 2021, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids.

Heartland Education is a renowned non-profit organization founded in 2022 with a mission to prepare competent first responders who can save lives with commitment, compassion, and integrity. We achieve this through evidence-based learning, resilience training, and providing ongoing education and access to our first responders.