Real-Time 911 Dispatch Data

In line with the NDEWS Coordinating Center’s focus on leading rather than lagged indicators of drug use trends, NDEWS has partnered with biospatial.io to access electronic patient care reports (ePCRs) from thousands of emergency medical services (EMS) providers in over 40 US states. Seventy-five percent of 911 dispatch data is reported within 24 hours of the event.

NDEWS is currently monitoring several categories of events, including: opioid and specifically heroin overdoses; non-opioid overdoses; alcohol-related events; methamphetamine-related events; suicide attempts and suicide ideation; and mental health-related events.

Demographics of opioid and methamphetamine fatal and non-fatal substance-related 911 EMS dispatches January 2022 – September 2022

Dispatches were most common in White males and persons aged 30–39. This age range has continued to be a concern in our NDEWS briefings. While opioid-related dispatches were higher than methamphetamine-related dispatches for adults aged 50+, methamphetamine-related dispatches were higher among younger adults than dispatches for opioids.

View the full report here

Fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose-related 911 EMS dispatches January 2022 – August 2022

Fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose-related 911 EMS dispatches across the US increased throughout 2022, from 17,082 in January to 20,428. Dispatches were most common in White males and persons aged 30 – 39. This age range has continued to be of concern for opioid overdose.

Dispatches reported here follow the guidelines set by the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) and cover 24 US states with statewide partnerships with biospatial.io: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Though not shown, Kentucky had the highest rate per 10K with 16.50, followed by South Carolina with
13.69, and Maine with 12.88.

View the full report here.

Methamphetamine-related 911 EMS responses per 10k population, June 2022 – August 2022

From June 1, 2022 to August 18, 2022, methamphetamine-related 911 responses were reported in 1,467 incident counties in 45 states. Of those 911 responses, a majority of persons were white (54%), and male (67%). New Mexico had the highest rate of responses with 7.15 responses per 10k residents, followed by Colorado with 5.69 per 10k residents, and Nevada with 4.02 per 10k residents.

View the full report here.

Opioid overdose-related 911 EMS responses per 10k population, June 20, 2022 – July 20, 2022

From June 20, 2022 to July 20, 2022, opioid-related 911 responses were reported in 1,188 incident counties in 43 states. Of those 911 responses, a majority of persons were white (52%), and male (68%). Within states with at least 70% coverage during the reporting period, Kentucky had the highest rate of responses with 2.18 responses per 10k residents, followed by Maine with 2.12 per 10k residents, and South Carolina with 1.73 per 10k residents.

View the full report here

2021 Q4 Report: Methamphetamine-related 911 EMS responses per 10k population, October 2021 – December 2021

Q4 Meth

In Quarter 4 (Q4) 2021, 24,803 methamphetamine-related 911 responses were recorded by biospatial.io for NDEWS Sentinel Sites. Of those 911 responses, a majority of persons were white (51%), and male (68%). Within our Sentinel Site Network, Colorado had the highest rate of responses with 6.17 responses per 10k residents (3,512 total responses), followed by Kentucky with 3.13 per 10k residents (1,400 total responses) and California with 2.70 responses per 10k (10,681 total responses).

View the full report here

2021 Q4 Report: Opioid-related 911 EMS responses per 10k population, October 2021 – December 2021

Q4 Opioid

In Q4 2021, 39,641 opioid-related 911 responses were recorded by biospatial.io for NDEWS Sentinel Sites. Of those 911 responses, a majority of persons were white (54%), and male (70%). Within our Sentinel Site Network, Kentucky had the highest rate of responses with 5.76 responses per 10k residents (2,573 total responses), followed by Florida with 4.82 per 10k residents (10,295 total responses) and Maine with 4.33 responses per 10k (580 total responses).

View the full report here.

911 EMS responses per 10k population in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 12 months, November 2020 – November 2021

This week’s Briefing presents data from the first RSR visit to detect drug trends. The report here evaluates the data from 911 responses in the same area for the same time period. It is interesting to note that for all 3 substances, rates of 911 EMS responses were highest for San Francisco County and surpassed the rate for California as a whole and for the US as well. This is not too different from the data from the RSR where alcohol was highest followed by stimulants and opioids. (after removing cannabis and others).

View the full report here.

2021 Q3 Report: Methamphetamine-related 911 EMS responses per 10k population, July 2021 – September 2021

Methamphetamine has primarily been reported on the West coast of the US. Our data shown here suggest a shift to central and eastern US. Quarter 3 of 2021 experienced 30,567 methamphetamine-related 911 responses, with Colorado and Kentucky experiencing the largest rate of responses per 10k, although California experienced the highest overall count of methamphetamine-related 911 responses.

View the full report here.

NDEWS Alerts

NDEWS Alerts involve a dynamic notification system that calculates a score to quantify the degree to which observed counts of 911 calls in NDEWS Sentinel Site counties deviate from the expected range of values. These alerts are provided by the anomalous alert system from biospatial and are disseminated in the NDEWS Weekly Briefing. Past alerts are also archived below.

2021

Week of 9/17 to 9/23

Week of 9/10 to 9/16

Week of 9/3 to 9/9

Week of 8/26 to 9/02

Week of 8/17 to 8/25

State Rankings in 911 Calls for Selected Events

Monthly rankings of rates of 911 dispatches per 10,000 population are also calculated for selected events. The top ten states with coverage in the biospatial platform are presented along with available patient demographic information.

Opioid-Involved Overdose Calls

Alcohol-Related Calls

Last modified: 11/21/2023

The National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (U01DA051126) to the University of Florida (PI: Cottler; Co-Is: Goldberger, Nixon, Striley), New York University (Co-I: Palamar), and Florida Atlantic University (Co-I: Barenholtz).