PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Police in Massachusetts are testing a new database for documenting opioid overdoses they hope will help departments share information in real time and get people into treatment.
The database was developed by criminal justice experts Sean Varano at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, and Pam Kelley with Kelley Research Associates in Massachusetts.
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It’s an innovative approach, Varano said, because agencies typically rely on older public health data about fatal overdoses and don’t know the prevalence of nonfatal overdoses and because it gives them a quick way to communicate about that data.
“This is really a death prevention project,” Varano said. “That sounds like hyperbole, but when someone overdoses today and they’re not in treatment, their chances of dying in the next month are exponentially greater. So how do we understand that and play a role so they don’t die?”
It works like this: When a department is called to an overdose, it’s recorded in the system. The system then alerts the department to do a follow-up outreach visit. If the victim is from a neighbouring community, that police department is notified.
The 27 police departments in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, are using it. They have all agreed that within 24 hours of a nonfatal overdose, a non-uniformed officer and recovery coach will go to the person’s house to discuss treatment and offer resources to their family.