New Interactive Opiates Dashboard Provides Snapshot of Community Overdose Trends
Press
Release
March 20,
2018
Contact
Kelli Newman
Myers Columbus Public Health
614-645-7213 [email protected]
New Interactive Opiates Dashboard Provides Snapshot of
Community Overdose Trends
Report Tracks Key Trends in Drug-Related Emergency
Department Data
A new
interactive opiates dashboard has been developed by Columbus Public Health to
provide a current snapshot of overdose trends in order to help address the
opiate crisis in our community. The dashboard – which will be updated weekly --
is available on the Columbus Public Health website.
The dashboard
allows residents to look back at more than two years of drug-related emergency
department data. Viewers can change the date range, and how the data trends (by
week, month, quarter and year). It includes trends in emergency room suspected
overdose visits and features key indicators such as day of the week and time of
overdose ER visits, zip code of the patient, age, gender and race.
“In order to
effectively address the opiate crisis in our community, we must first
understand the scope of the problem and identify trends and issues that can
help us develop effective responses to protect health,” says Columbus Health
Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts. “The dashboard is part of a broader effort
to be transparent and share information with stakeholders and the community on
the opiate crisis.”
“We know that
education is the key to prevention. As we continue working together to
implement the Franklin County Opiate Action Plan, we want to use every resource
available to educate our community about the opiate crisis,” said Columbus City
Attorney Zach Klein. “This data provided by this dashboard will give us a clear
picture of where to focus our efforts.”
The
interactive dashboard will be used as a resource in implementing the Franklin
County Opiate Action Plan, a three-year collaborative effort developed by the
Franklin County Alcohol Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) to help the City of
Columbus and Franklin County respond to the growing drug and opiate crisis.
With the assistance of partners, Columbus Public Health plans to add other
related data to the system in the future.
To view the
opiate dashboard, visit https://www.columbus.gov/publichealth/programs/Office-of-Epidemiology/Harm-Reduction/. For more information on the opiate
epidemic and the Franklin County Opiate Action Plan, please click here.
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