White House rolls out new national database tracking opioid overdoses
On Monday, the White House unveiled its Non-Fatal Opioid Surveillance Dashboard, which will provide year-to-date national data to law enforcement, health care providers and policy makers as they take on the ongoing drug overdose epidemic.
In addition to non-fatal opioid overdose rates, the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) will consolidate information on EMS response times to opioid overdoses, naloxone administration by EMS personnel and rate of overdose patients not transported to a medical facility.
“It’s incredibly helpful in that it brings EMS into the conversation at the national level,” said Stephanie Busch, injury prevention manager at the Vermont Department of Health and a volunteer advanced EMT. “EMS shows up where people are. We don’t require people to come to an emergency department or come to us. That’s just one more piece of this big, complex pie.”