Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patterns and characteristics of ambulance attendance at heroin overdose at a local-area level in Melbourne, Australia: Implications for service provision

  • Published:
Journal of Urban Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The monitoring of heroin use and related harms is undertaken in Australia with a view to inform policy responses. Some surveillance data on heroin-related harms is well suited to inform the planning and delivery of heroin-related services, such as needle and syringe provision. This article examines local-area variation in the characteristics of nonfatal heroin overdoses attended by ambulances in Melbourne over the period June 1998 to October 2000 to inform the delivery of services to the heroin-using population in Melbourne. Five so-called hot spot local government areas were considered in relation to the remainder of the Melbourne metropolitan area. Significant local-area variations in the characteristics of nonfatal heroin overdoses were evident over the study period, including the number of heroin overdoses, the age and sex of the people attended, the time of the attendance, the likelihood of hospitalization, and the likelihood of police coattendance. The implications of the finding are discussed in terms of service provision (e.g., opening hours) within the five hot spot local government areas, and it is argued that the analyses undertaken could easily be applied to other jurisdictions for which comparable data are available.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Darke S, Topp L, Kaye S, Hall W. Heroin use in New South Wales, Australia, 1996–2000: 5 year monitoring of trends in price, purity, availability and use from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS). Addiction. 2002;97:179–186.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Hando J, Darke S, O’Brien S, Maher L, Hall W. The development of an early warning system to detect trends in illicit drug use in Australia—the Illicit Drug Reporting System. Addiction Res. 1998;6:97–113.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Rumbold G, Fry C. Victorian Drug Trends 1998: Findings From the Melbourne Trial of the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS). Sydney, Australia: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; 1999. NDARC Technical Report 73.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Darke S, Ross J, Hall W. Overdose among heroin users in Sydney, Australia. I: prevalence and correlates of nonfatal overdose. Addiction. 1996;91:405–411.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Gerostamoulos J, Staikos V, Drummer OH. Heroin deaths in Victoria: a review of cases for 1997 and 1998. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2001;61:123–127.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Darke S, Ross J, Sunjic S, Zador D. Heroin-Related Deaths in New South Wales 1992–1996. Sydney, Australia: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; 1999. NDARC Technical Report 68.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Degenhardt L. Opioid Overdose Deaths in Australia. Sydney, Australia: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hall W, Darke S. Trends in Opiate Overdose Deaths in Australia 1979–1995. Sydney, Australia: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; 1997. NDARC Technical Report 49.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Degenhardt L, Hall W, Adelstein B-A. Ambulance Calls to Suspected Drug Overdoses: Analysis of New South Wales Patterns July 1997 to June 1999. Sydney, Australia: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; 2000. NDARC Technical Report 94.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Dietze PM, Cvetkovski S, Rumbold GR, Miller P. Ambulance attendance at heroin overdose in Melbourne: the establishment of a database of ambulance service records. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2000;19:27–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bammer G, Ostini R, Sengoz A. Using ambulance service records to examine nonfatal heroin overdoses. Aust J Public Health. 1995;19:316–317.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Fry C, Miller P. Victorian Drug Trends 2001: Findings from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS). Sydney, Australia: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; 2002. NDARC Technical Report 129.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Gossop M, Griffiths P, Powis B, Williamson S, Strang J. Frequency of non-fatal heroin overdose: survey of heroin users recruited in a non-clinical setting. BMJ. 1996;313:402.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Dietze P, Fry C, Rumbold G, Gerostamoulos J. The context, management and prevention of heroin overdose in Victoria, Australia: the promise of a diverse approach. Addiction Res Theory. 2001;9:437–458.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Darke S, Zador D. Fatal heroin “overdose”: a review. Addiction. 1996;91:1765–1772.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Dietze P, Rumbold G, Cvetkovski S, Hanlin K, Laslett A-M, Jonas H. Using populationbased data on alcohol consumption and related harms to estimate the relative need for alcohol services in Victoria, Australia. Eval Program Plam. 2000;23:429–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Fitzgerald J, Hamilton M, Dietze P. Walking overdoses: a re-appraisal of non-fatal illicit drug overdoses. Addiction Res. 2000;8:327–355.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Dietze P, Cantwell C, Burgess S. Bystander resuscitation attempts at heroin overdose: does it improve outcomes? Drug Alcohol Depend. 2002;67:213–218.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Victoria Police. Police attendance at incidents of drug overdose. Chief Commissioner’s instructions. The Gazette. February 1999:8.

  20. Dietze PM, Fry CF, Rumbold GR, Gerostamoulos J. The context, management and prevention of heroin overdose in Victoria: the promise of a diverse approach. Addiction Res Theory. 2001;9:437–458.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Midford R, Acres J, Lenton S, Loxley W, Boots K. Cops, drugs and the community: establishing consultative harm reduction structures in two Western Australian locations. Int J Drug Policy. 2002;13:181–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Crook GM, Oei TPS. A review of systematic and quantifiable methods of estimating the needs of a community for alcohol treatment services. J Subst Abuse Treat. 1998;15:357–365.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Rush B. A systems approach to estimating the required capacity of alcohol treatment services. Br J Addict. 1990;85:49–59.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Dewitt DJ, Rush BR. Assessing the need for substance abuse services: a critical review of needs assessment models. Eval Program Plann. 1996;19:41–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Seidler D, Schmeiser-Rieder A, Schlarp O, Laggner AN. Heroin and opiate emergencies in Vienna: analysis at the municipal ambulance service. J Clin Epidemiol. 2000;53:734–741.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Seidler D, Woisteschlaeger C, Schmeiser-Rieder A, Hirschl MM, Kaff A, Laggner AN. Prehospital opiate emergencies in Vienna. Am J Emerg Med. 1996;14:436–439.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Schulz-Schaeffer W, Peters T, Pueschel K. Drug abuse emergencies in Hamburg 1990/91. Forensic Sci Int. 1993;62:167–171.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, 54-62 Gertrude Street, 3065, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia

    Damine Jolley

  2. Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, Inc., and Deakin University School of Health Sciences, 54-62 Gertrude Street, 3065, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia

    Paul Dietze PhD (VicHealth Public Health Research Fellow) &  Stefan Cvetkovski

Authors
  1. Paul Dietze PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Damine Jolley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stefan Cvetkovski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Dietze PhD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dietze, P., Jolley, D. & Cvetkovski, S. Patterns and characteristics of ambulance attendance at heroin overdose at a local-area level in Melbourne, Australia: Implications for service provision. J Urban Health 80, 248–260 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1093/jurban/jtg028

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jurban/jtg028

Keywords

Search

Navigation