House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

Posted:	October 15, 2018 02:25 PM
From:	Representative Doyle Heffley
To:	All House members
Subject:	Warm Hand Off legislation - Heffley

Last month I visited the Lehigh County program known as Blue Guardian which is offering life-saving assistance to overdose survivors in the city of Allentown and surrounding areas. Their law enforcement, emergency medical services, and addition treatment specialists have joined efforts to address the terrible toll that the addiction crisis is having in their community. I plan to introduce legislation to emulate their program so that a warm hand off to treatment can be made state-wide for overdose survivors. The Commonwealth began by authorizing the use of naloxone for first responders to bring people back from the brink of death. The warm hand off is the logical next step. Many EMTs and police officers have told us that they are saving the same individuals repeatedly. What has been missing is the link to addiction treatment for them. My legislation will forge the net link in the continuum of care for people struggling with a substance use disorder. Please join me in cosponsoring this important piece of legislation.
View Attachment

Introduced as HB2727