Drug-related deaths have increased over the past decade throughout the United States. In New York City (NYC), every year there are approximately 900 psychoactive drug-related fatalities with the majority involving opioids. Unintentional drug overdose is the fourth leading cause of early adult death in NYC, and high rates of drug-related morbidity among drug users are evidenced by over 30,000 drug mentions in NYC emergency departments each year. Moreover, nonfatal overdose may be common among chronic drug users. Despite the relationship between fatal and non-fatal overdose clusters and continued increases in drug-related morbidity and mortality, no regular surveillance system currently exists. The implementation of a drug-related early warning system can inform and target a comprehensive public health response addressing the significant health problem of overdose morbidity and mortality.
Objective
This presentation describes how multiple syndromic data sources from emergency medical services ambulance dispatches and emergency department visits can be combined to routinely monitor citywide spatial patterns of adverse drug events and drug morbidity. This information can be used to target information, treatment and prevention services to drug “hotspots,” to provide early warning for drug-related morbidity, and to detect potential increased risk for overdose death.