New Opioid Overdose Dashboard Debuts Today

Tool tracks non-fatal opioid overdoses, other key emergency measures

December 08, 2022

The White House today unveiled a first-of-its-kind dashboard that tracks non-fatal opioid overdoses and other key emergency measures related to the opioid epidemic.

Federal officials say the dashboard provides another tool to help communities address the ongoing public health crisis, including nationally reported data from Emergency Medical Services (EMS) that can bolster their response.

“This dashboard puts data to work, strengthening our ability to save lives and fight back against the opioid crisis,” Ann Carlson, acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said in a statement.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Key metrics:  There were 182,402 non-fatal opioid overdoses last year. The average EMS response time from was 9.8 minutes, and the average number of naloxone administrations per overdose was 1.1.
  • About 20.8 percent of these patients were not transported to a medical facility.
• Top counties: Portsmouth, Virginia, Powell, Kentucky, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are the areas with the highest rates for non-fatal opioid overdoses.
• How it works:  The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Non-Fatal Opioid Overdose Tracker reviews trends in pre-hospital settings from nationally submitted EMS data.
• Updates:  The data will be updated every Monday morning with a two-week lag and will be modified to include additional measures in the future.
• Top priority:  Last week, federal officials outlined their overall strategy to prevent overdose deaths, which emphasizes “increasing access to the full continuum of care and services for people who use substances that cause overdose.”

HAP and Pennsylvania’s hospitals are committed to addressing the opioid crisis. This includes a focus on decreasing overdoses and subsequent deaths, increasing the number of patients entering treatment, and increasing the number of patients starting medication-assisted treatment. Learn more about our behavioral health priorities.

The Non-Fatal Opioid Overdose Tracker is available to review online.