In collaboration with the Mississippi State Department of Health, the Mississippi (MS) ORS team develops products to inform public health and public safety groups on how to best allocate overdose prevention and drug trafficking intervention resources. In 2021, Mississippi experienced approximately 788 fatal overdoses (1). This significant number reflected the need for timely reporting of Mississippi Emergency Department and Emergency Medical Services non-fatal overdose surveillance data per district in order to prepare more proactive public health and public safety responses in priority areas. To address this need, the MS ORS team produced a monthly rapid alert report, in which Mississippi Emergency Department and Emergency Medical Services non-fatal overdose surveillance data is shared to help communities respond to illicit and prescription drug misuse. This report, created by gathering six months of the aforementioned data, determines precautionary and cautionary areas in need. Non-fatal overdose responses by hospital emergency departments and in communities by emergency medical services are also reported monthly per district. The MS PHA creates the monthly report, which is published on the MSDH website, by utilizing Biospatial data (accessed through the collaboration with the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Opioid and Substance Use Program) and Emergency Department data (provided by the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) staff from the Biosense platform). The MS ORS team also distributed the report to an audience of approximately 250 public health partners and 100 local law enforcement personnel. With this information, public health and public safety partners can review areas that may need additional resources to minimize drug overdoses. For example, the monthly rapid alert report has been utilized by a parent during a local media conference on Overdose Awareness Day and by the Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers for securement of a grant. It has also been shared amongst the Department of Mental Health and the State Lt. Governor. Since the publication of this report, other ORS teams have inquired to publish similar reports in Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Click here to view the monthly report.

Reference: 
1.Trends in Mississippi’s drug overdose deaths, 2021. (2023, January 27). https://msdh.ms.gov/page/resources/19637.pdf