Course Title: Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
Duration: 6 hours
Format: In-person - Instructor Led
CEH: 6
Instructor: Nick Furman, Debra Bell, Garry Ackerman
Course Description:
Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders is a 6-hour course that teaches students working as community paramedics to assist patients with mental health or substance use disorders. The course will provide students with a more comprehensive understanding of both mental health disorders and substance use disorders. Community paramedics may work with patients diagnosed with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, or schizophrenia. The content includes an important component on strategies and tips for identifying risk factors for suicide. The course will teach students to monitor, evaluate, manage, and educate patients with substance use disorders. Students will recognize the different care options and alternative transport destinations available for patients, as well as learn to assist patients with medication education, management, and reconciliation. Students will participate in guided discussions, role play activities, and identification of community resources.
After completing this course, students will be able to:
- Describe the role of community paramedics in monitoring, evaluating, managing, and educating patients with mental health disorders and substance use.
- Identify the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders, including substance overuse, using validated screening tools.
- Discuss how stigma and bias of mental health and substance use disorders affect the ability to seek and receive proper treatment, long-term management of the disorder, and patient outcomes.
- Identify potential and existing community resources for patients with mental health disorders and substance use.
- Create and implement a plan of care for patients with mental health disorders and substance use.
Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders may be taught as a stand-alone course, or as a component of NAEMT’s Community Paramedicine curriculum. This course may be offered to all paramedics and other out-of-hospital healthcare practitioners.