If you respond to a patient who receives naloxone and suboxone from you, still has a COWS of > 8, but is refusing transport, should we be patching for additional doses? If not, if that same patient calls an ambulance a few hours later for continued withdrawal symptoms, when is it safe for them to receive more suboxone?
1 Answers
Thank you for your question. It would be very appropriate to patch for an additional 8 mg of Suboxone, despite the patient refusing transport, because harm reduction is our goal. Once the patient feels better, they may be more open to transport or addiction services. If, however, the patient refuses further doses or your request is denied and you are called back to the same patient a few hours later, it would be reasonable to continue with our protocol and administer another 8 mg of Suboxone.
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