In North America we experience the highest rate of drug related mortality in the world. In the US, overdose is now the leading cause of death among adults under 50. Each day more than 115 people in the United States die due to an opioid overdose. The opioid overdose national crisis is rapidly evolving due to changes in drug availability and the presence of adulterated fentanyl in some areas leading to a critical need for innovative methods to identify opioid overdoses for both surveillance and intervention purposes.

Injury and violence are public health problems now-a-days all over the world. Over 950000 children less than 18 years of age die as a result of injuries, 95% of which occur in low and middle income countries (LMIC) including India. Unintentional injuries account for 90% of these cases. The death rate due to unintentional injuries is almost double in LMIC as compared to developed countries. It is seen that most of childhood unintentional injuries occur in and around the home of children. India, with a population of app 1.25 billion, had about 40% children.

In Massachusetts, syndromic surveillance (SyS) data have been used to monitor injection drug use and acute opioid overdoses within EDs. Currently, Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) SyS captures over 90% of ED visits statewide. These real-time data contain rich free-text and coded clinical and demographic information used to categorize visits for population level public health surveillance. Other surveillance data have shown elevated rates of opioid overdose related ED visits, Emergency Medical Service incidents, and fatalities in Massachusetts from 2014-20171,2,3.