The Northern Kentucky Health Department has launched its overdose dashboard.
The tool — located on the department's addiction response page — tracks drug-related ER visits, EMS encounters, EMS use of naloxone, and fatalities across Boone, Campbell, Grant, and Kenton counties since early 2022.
The data comes from EMS and fire departments around Northern Kentucky and is updated weekly. However, before the dashboard was created, drug overdose data from Northern Kentucky was not shared so easily.
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Previously, the department collected the data and shared any noticeable changes or trends with local health care providers and organizations. Now, addiction treatment and harm reduction organizations in the area can get that information instantly with just a few clicks.
District Director of Health Jennifer Mooney says this easy access to data will help the department work more efficiently with organizations that can help people battling addiction. It can also reduce the stigma around drug use among the general public.
"I think a lot of folks tend to think of a drug user in a very stereotypical way, and what we know now is fentanyl is present in just about everything," Mooney said. "It may not be someone who's historically injected drugs. It could be someone who's buying a pressed pill they think might be Adderall because they're studying late at night. All of those things could potentially lead to a fatal overdose."
In 2023, 61 people in Northern Kentucky died from a reported overdose, more than 500 went to the ER, and EMS responded to more than 1,000 overdoses.
Mooney predicts these numbers will grab people's attention and show them how close to home the drug and fentanyl crisis can be.
