The ADHS team recently launched a new dashboard providing more details on the possible opioid overdoses and deaths that have been reported to us since June 15 when the enhanced surveillance executive order went into effect.  One of the features of the dashboard is the display of possible overdoses by week.  
 
With six weeks of reports of real time data, we’ve seen nearly 1,300 suspected opioid overdoses reported. The new dashboard breaks down the numbers by week, so we know just in the last week there were 146 possible opioid overdoses reported to us. We expect to see fluctuations in the numbers reported by week, and it is important to keep in mind that these are not yet confirmed cases. 
 
Some additional data that the dashboard highlights includes:
  • About 15 percent of people with suspect overdose cases had prior hospitalizations in 2016 for an opioid-related cause
  • Just less than half of people hospitalized with possible opioid overdose were referred to behavioral health services for treatment
  • The majority of suspect overdoses occurred at personal residences
  • Seventy-seven percent of people experiencing possible opioid overdoses had an opioid prescription one month prior to their recent overdose.  A majority of those opioid prescriptions were written for six or more days.
Since June 15, 900 doses of naloxone have been administered by law enforcement, emergency medical services, and others and reported to us. The ADHS team continues to provide free naloxone kits for law enforcement agencies who have been appropriately trained. So far, ADHS has ordered 2,258 naloxone kits for 25 agencies, and assisted many law enforcement agencies with information about how to set up a naloxone program. Visit our website www.azhealth.gov/opioid for information and updates.