Bedford County Fire and EMS facing tougher restrictions on handling medications

Bedford, Virginia – The Bedford County Board of Supervisors authorized funds for Bedford County Fire and EMS to purchase the gear and software necessary to track highly addictive DEA-regulated medications during their meeting on Monday night.

All of this is a result of new rules that the Virginia Board of Pharmacy has implemented to tighten limitations on the acquisition and storage of controlled substances that first responders use to treat patients.

Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief of Administration William Altman said hospitals have been providing firemen and emergency medical personnel with the necessary drugs and have been handling the paperwork for years.

They now bear the responsibility for the new limitations, and the sophisticated new equipment will keep track of every medicine used.

“The DEA has regulations requiring them to be tracked from the moment they are brought in until the moment they leave for the ambulance, and beyond that, until they are utilized and disposed of. To be thrown away, even expired medications need to be reported to a third-party company. According to Altman, it’s enabling the DEA enforcement to follow everything correctly.

A significant portion of the equipment required will be made up of various safes that are standard equipment in any ambulance that transports drugs.

“The drugs are moved and enter the safe and the ambulance when they are taken out of the safe and pharmacy. The safe is tracked by it. It is taken out of the safe, placed inside while they are on the phone, and then taken back out. It monitors all medications. It will notify you that the drug is missing when it is placed back in the safe, so you will need to locate the documentation and the application to track where the drug is used and how much is wasted, according to Altman.

To trace who is accessing the drugs, each safe will have an ID number that volunteers and staff working in fire and emergency services may view.

“To gain access, everyone will need to have some kind of authentication. That’s how we can monitor who opens the drug package and trace who does so, according to Altman.

Bedford County Fire and EMS will have until November 27th to put the new, legally mandated drug tracking software into effect, while the specifics are still being finalized.