Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet announced that Colorado will receive $400,000 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to help strengthen emergency medical services (EMS) training in areas of rural Colorado.  

“As communities in Colorado continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic, the addiction epidemic continues to devastate families,” said Bennet. “This grant will help emergency medical services in rural areas of Colorado respond to crises in their communities. This critical funding comes at a time when addressing mental health and substance use disorders is more urgent than ever.” 

Both the Ute Pass Regional Ambulance District in Woodland Park, Colorado and the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District in Bayfield, Colorado will receive a $200,000 Rural EMS Training Grant to fund the recruitment and training of EMS personnel with a particular focus on addressing mental health and substance use disorders in emergency settings. 

In June, Bennet and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act to require prescribers of highly addictive medication, like opioids, to complete a substance use training to ensure they have foundational knowledge of addiction prevention, treatment, and medication management. A full list of recipients is available at https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/2021/rural-ems-training.