Comparison of emergency medical services and emergency department encounter trends for nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses, nine states, United States, 2020–2022

Abstract

BackgroundOpioid-involved overdoses, especially those involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl, have driven increases in overdose morbidity and mortality. Emergency medical services (EMS) and emergency department (ED) data can each provide near real-time information on trends in nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses; however, minimal data exist on the comparability of trends in these two data sources. MethodsEMS data from biospatial© and ED data from CDC’s Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology system and National Syndromic Surveillance Program were queried for nine states. Counts of total encounters, opioid-involved overdose encounters, and rates of opioid-involved overdoses per 10,000 total encounters were calculated for each data source from 2020 to 2022. Trends in monthly counts and rates were assessed using Joinpoint regression. ResultsOn average, EMS data captured 1.8 times more monthly opioid-involved overdose encounters than ED data. Trends in the counts of opioid-involved overdose encounters were similar in both data sources with increases and decreases occurring during roughly the same periods. Overall, trends in rates of opioid-involved overdose encounters were also comparable. ConclusionsEMS and ED data provide complementary information for understanding overdose trends. Study findings underscore the importance of implementing post-overdose response protocols by both EMS and ED providers to ensure patients receive services irrespective of care setting.