ArticlePublic health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)
Using Emergency Medical Services Data to Monitor Nonfatal Opioid Overdoses in Real Time : Development, Validation, and Use of a Case Definition, Rhode Island, 2018.
Article in Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Recovery Capital and Subsequent Overdose Risk and Addiction Treatment Engagement Among Emergency Department Patients at High Risk of Opioid Overdose.Substance use & misuse · 2025Trial
- Effect of a peer-led emergency department behavioral intervention on non-fatal opioid overdose: 18-month outcome in the Navigator randomized controlled trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2024Trial
- Evaluating the predictive performance of different data sources to forecast overdose deaths at the neighborhood level with machine learning in Rhode Island.Preventive medicine · 2025Article
- Time-space characteristics of emergency medical service attendance and layperson naloxone administration during non-fatal opioid overdoses in Rhode Island: A retrospective, event-level analysis.Annals of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Trends in recurrent overdose and treatment initiation following emergency department visits for opioid overdose between 2016 and 2021.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Overdose from Unintentional Fentanyl Use when Intending to Use a Non-opioid Substance: An Analysis of Medically Attended Opioid Overdose Events.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2024Article
- Characterizing opioid overdose hotspots for place-based overdose prevention and treatment interventions: A geo-spatial analysis of Rhode Island, USA.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Minnesota Data Sharing May Be Model For Near-Real-Time Tracking Of Drug Overdose Hospital And ED Trends.Health affairs (Project Hope) · 2023Article
- County-level estimates of suicide mortality in the USA: a modelling study.The Lancet. Public health · 2023Article
- Trends in Suspected Opioid Drug Overdose Events in Emergency Medical Service Encounters in South Carolina, 2019-2022.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
- Prior Emergency Medical Services Utilization Among People Who Had an Accidental Opioid-Involved Fatal Drug Overdose-Rhode Island, 2018-2020.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
- Opioid Overdose Surveillance : Improving Data to Inform Action.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveNo case definition exists that allows public health authorities to accurately identify opioid overdoses using emergency medical services (EMS) data. We developed and evaluated a case definition for suspected nonfatal opioid overdoses in EMS data.
methodsTo identify suspected opioid overdose-related EMS runs, in 2019 the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) developed a case definition using the primary impression, secondary impression, selection of naloxone in the dropdown field for medication given, indication of medication response in a dropdown field, and keyword search of the report narrative. We developed the case definition with input from EMS personnel and validated it using an iterative process of random medical record review. We used naloxone administration in consideration with other factors to avoid misclassification of opioid overdoses.
resultsIn 2018, naloxone was administered during 2513 EMS runs in Rhode Island, of which 1501 met our case definition of a nonfatal opioid overdose. Based on a review of 400 randomly selected EMS runs in which naloxone was administered, the RIDOH case definition accurately identified 90.0% of opioid overdoses and accurately excluded 83.3% of non-opioid overdose-related EMS runs. Use of the case definition enabled analyses that identified key patterns in overdose locations, people who experienced repeat overdoses, and the creation of hotspot maps to inform outbreak detection and response. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: EMS data can be an effective tool for monitoring overdoses in real time and informing public health practice. To accurately identify opioid overdose-related EMS runs, the use of a comprehensive case definition is essential.
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