I like the suggestion someone made here . Three strikes for opioids. The EMTs will come to you three times and give you a ride to the ER. The fourth call will get no response. I would extend that to drug ODs in general and maybe limit it to two calls. We used to have institutions where such people could be stashed to keep them alive. I am ambivalent about the ending of those back in the 70s. They provided a seemingly necessary service but the people who were drawn to work in those places - well, many of them belonged in another sort of institution and the corruption that allowed people to be put in them for political and social reasons was intractable.
I think the real question here is vast landscape. You could have a 25-year old who is addicted, and over a 20-year period....the ambulance is called on 200 occasions to save the guy. You can add up the cost and ask yourself...how much compassion do you have, and if it’s $4,000 for a ambulance ‘trick’...this all adds up.
In my book...once the EMT team assesses it’s an Opioid problem...the hospital team ought to access a database and note this is the 4th time for the guy, and then pack up to leave. Tell the cops to wait till he’s expired and then call the local coroner’s office to pick him up.