The Need for Near Real-Time Data to Enhance Overdose Response
Historically, a challenge faced by public health officials, outreach and prevention organizations, treatment facilities, and public safety agencies addressing the opioid epidemic at the local level is the lack of access to near real-time data on fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose incidents. In jurisdictions where overdose data is available and disseminated systematically, the current lag time for such reports is often 6 to 12 months, or longer in certain jurisdictions. Reducing this lag time and providing those data in places where it is not currently available, is critical to accurately determine when—and where—to allocate short-term response strategies, such as community naloxone distribution locations.
The System for Opioid Overdose Surveillance (SOS)
In 2016, the CDC-funded University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center and Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) partnered to develop the System for Opioid Overdose Surveillance (SOS). The system provides near real-time mapping and temporal summaries of suspected non-fatal and fatal overdose cases, as well as demographic briefs to authorized public health and public safety stakeholders across the state of Michigan. SOS was developed to inform data-driven opioid overdose prevention and response efforts with the goal of reducing overdose injuries and deaths. As of Summer 2021, SOS collects statewide EMS naloxone administration data and medical examiner data covering approximately 80% of the state’s population. These data are presented on a web-based dashboard and updated daily.16
