Emergency calls for opioid exposures rise among middle-school aged children

Years after the opioid epidemic began in the mid-1990s, emergency medical services are seeing increases in emergency calls for pre-teens and adolescents, according to research presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition at the Colorado Convention Center from Sept. 26-30.

The research, "EMS Calls for Pediatric Patients Ages 11-18 years with Opioid Exposures using NEMSIS data," examined calls for services due to suspected pediatric opioid exposure reported to the National Emergency Medical Services Information System, which tracks emergency medical service data from across the United States. Authors reviewed the data from 2019 through 2023, breaking it down into two categories: middle school aged children and high school aged teens.

Opioid exposure calls increased nationally each year of the study for middle-school aged children, rising from 255 calls in 2019 to 553 in 2023. Teenagers fared slightly better with drops in emergency opioid exposure calls after 2022.

Sonia Lam, DO and pediatric emergency medicine fellow, said the new opioid exposure trends are causing concern among health professionals.

Opioid exposures in middle- and-high school aged students are a growing public health concern. The medical community and legislative authorities have an opportunity and obligation to enact policies to decrease risk to these vulnerable kids."

Dr. Sonia Lam, DO, pediatric emergency medicine fellow, research author 

Dr. Lam said that demographics varied by group, with females outnumbering males in the middle school age group, while the reverse pattern was true for the older group. Younger children also tend to present with significantly higher levels of acuity compared to older children

Authors suggest that targeted interventions for prevention of drug use disorders in children should be informed by how use varies with children's age and sex.

The authors did not receive financial support for this research.

Dr. Lam is scheduled to present the research, which is below, from 2:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. MDT on Friday, Sept. 26, in the Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room 108/110/112. To request an interview with the authors, contact Brianna Mortensen at [email protected].