The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sent a New Project Initiation Request to the NFPA Standards Council asking for the development of an ANSI-accredited standard for community-based response to drug overdoses (CReDO). This new standard would address the necessary functions and actions related to the prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery to drug overdoses by any community, authority-having jurisdiction (AHJ), facility, and/or organization that handles these types of incidents.

What would development of a CReDO standard include?

If the development of a CReDO standard is approved by the NFPA Standards Council, the responsible technical committee (TC) would likely be tasked with addressing, at a minimum, the following:

• Guidance and procedures to determine if:
  • an overdose involves current or new substances or mixtures of substances
  • an overdose case is part of a cluster
• Detailing a coordinated process to:
  • mobilize a local response to overdoses
  • collect, leverage and share data in order to proactively address the threats to a community and identify trends for the purpose of preparedness and response
  • coordinate across disciplines in order to provide services, including access to rehabilitation and recovery in a streamlined manner
  • establish the appropriate level of response and resources needed to manage the incident
• Developing training requirements or knowledge competencies for responders, public health, outreach, medical staff, laboratory, and other participants in the program

Submit your comments

NFPA is soliciting comments through December 31, 2019 to determine levels of support and/or opposition to the development of an NFPA standard that addresses CReDO. The association is fully committed to seeking feedback from vested groups and individuals, recognizing that there will be many points of view and perspectives to be carefully considered. As a result, NFPA is looking for feedback on the following questions:

• Are you or your organization in favor of the development of an NFPA standard addressing CReDO?
• What are your reasons for supporting or opposing this proposed standard?
• If you are in support of NFPA standards developments of CReDO, would you or your organization be interested in dedicating time to committee work toward its development?

Learn more about this opportunity.