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Study objectives: As part of a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)–funded project to evaluate the efficacy of a brief intervention, the brief negotiation interview (BNI) was developed for harmful and hazardous drinkers presenting to the emergency department (ED). Hazardous drinkers are defined as those drinking over the NIAAA guidelines for low-risk drinking who are not dependent. Harmful drinking was defined as an injury with blood alcohol content 0.2 g/dL or greater. We determine the feasibility and acceptability of teaching emergency practitioners to perform these interventions.Methods: All emergency medicine faculty, third- and fourth-year emergency medicine residents, and physician associates practicing in a Level I urban teaching hospital were eligible for training. Two-hour teaching sessions were conducted, including a 30-minute didactic presentation, a 10-minute role-playing demonstration, and a 50-minute skills-based workshop. All emergency practitioners were later tested using a standardized patient scenario that was audiotaped to ensure adherence to and competence with the BNI protocol. A rater identified that critical actions were completed. If emergency practitioners failed the testing station, they were given additional instruction and retested at a later time.Results: All 57 emergency practitioners were trained during 7 teaching sessions. One attending physician left the institution before testing. Fifty-one (91%) of 56 passed the first test, including 19 faculty, 28 emergency medicine residents, and 9 physician associates. A total of 5 (9%) emergency practitioners needed remediation: 1 faculty, 1 emergency medicine resident, and 3 physician associates. The 1 faculty and 1 emergency medicine resident left the institution before remediation. The remaining 3 physician associates successfully completed the test. Once tested, the emergency practitioners were responsible for providing BNIs for 250 harmful and hazardous drinkers identified on their ED shifts as part of the NIAAA project. These interventions were audiotaped and rated for adherence to protocol.Conclusion: We were able to develop and successfully teach a targeted intervention for harmful and hazardous drinkers to practicing emergency practitioners. They were successful in performing the intervention in a real-world ED setting.