Office of Emergency Medical Services

Marshall First Responders Appreciation Night

Marshall First Responders Appreciation Night March 5 2016.Tickets $5. For more information, click on the title above.

WVOEMS Certification, Re-certification and Legal Recognition Benchmarks Updated

The Certification Unit of WVOEMS has updated the “Applicant Benchmarks” on the WVOEMS web. These benchmarks allow an applicant to follow the progress of their application through the certification/re-certification process.For more information, click on the title above.

EMS Advisory Council Meeting March 8 2016

The regularly scheduled statutory meeting of the EMS Advisory Council will be held at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at the Medical Coordination Center (MCC) Sutton, WV 25301.

Outbreak of Reported Synthetic Cannabinoid Overdoses and Confirmed Synthetic Cannabinoid Deaths in West Virginia

Demographics:

Between December 1, 2015 and January 29, 2016, the West Virginia Poison Center was consulted on 15 reported cases of synthetic cannabinoid overdoses in which the victim survived. During this same time period, the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed 6 synthetic cannabinoid deaths. Out of the 21 total cases, 13 (7 reported overdoses and 6 confirmed deaths) originated from Raleigh County. Other overdoses were reported from Berkeley, Greenbrier, Jackson, Kanawha, Logan, McDowell, Mingo, and Ohio Counties.

In calendar year 2015, 83 cases of synthetic cannabinoid overdoses originating in West Virginia were reported to the West Virginia Poison Center; 27 overdoses were from Raleigh County and 17 overdoses from Mingo County. The majority of victims were between 17 and 39 years of age (range 17 to 60 years).