YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima County has seen a significant improvement in tracking drug overdoses thanks to a new software program called OD Map. Alicia Tobin, the executive director of Safe Yakima Valley, said the program has been instrumental in providing accurate data on overdoses, which was previously difficult to obtain.
“How are we trying to solve a problem when we don’t know the magnitude of the problem as of yet? We’re throwing money at a problem, when we only know the total number of deaths, we don’t know the magnitude of the problem,” Tobin said.
After struggling to find statistics on overdose survivors from local agencies, Tobin discovered OD Map at a conference. The software connects with law enforcement and fire departments to create a comprehensive map of drug overdoses. This has revealed the true extent of the issue in the county.
“Yakima County was ranked tenth at the time. When we finally linked up and got all of our data up and running, and we were tracking actual numbers, we moved to number two in the state, at 62 overdoses per 100,000. So we went from number ten, to number two in a matter of two months after we went live with OD Map,” Tobin said.
OD Map also has the capability to alert authorities when there is a spike in overdoses.
“Over the weekend, we had another spike alert, we had six overdoses over the weekend, and then since this morning we are now in another overdose spike response, we had another five overdoses in the last 24 hour periods,” Tobin said.
Spikes in overdoses can prompt organizations like Safe Yakima Valley to provide street-level services and aid those in crisis. Tobin emphasized the importance of not using opioids alone, as self-administering Narcan is not possible during an overdose.
“In speaking with our coroner, one of the things he suggested, is he said, ‘Alicia, when I respond to overdoses, in many cases, there’s Narcan sitting next to them, they don’t understand that when you overdose on an opioid,’ you cannot self-administer, you cannot give yourself Narcan. So while the intentions are good, you can’t do so. That’s why it’s so important that you never use alone,” Tobin said.
The OD Map itself is not publicly available due to privacy and HIPAA protections.
