OVERDOSE DATA TO ACTION: LIMITING OVERDOSE THROUGH COLLABORATIVE ACTIONS IN LOCALITIES (OD2A: LOCAL) - The accredited Sedgwick County Health Department (SCHD) is applying for Overdose Data to Action: Limiting Overdose through Collaborative Actions in Localities (OD2A: LOCAL), CDC-RFA-CE-23-0003. SCHD is applying for Component A, Surveillance Component B and optional medical examiner and coroner agency (ME/C) funding, but is not applying for Component C. Application reviewers should consider the mid-size of Sedgwick County which has increasing rates of fatal and non-fatal overdoses but enough partner work already occurring for the size of the community to show a decrease difference in five years if awarded Data to Action funding. When compared to Kansas and national data, in 2021, both White and Black or African American individuals died from overdoses at a higher rate in Sedgwick County compared to Kansas and the United States. The populations of focus for this application are people who identify as Black or African American, people ages 16-24, and people who are unhoused. Veterans are a focus to ensure they are linked to care in the Department of Veterans Affairs system. For Component A Linkage to Care, the funding will expand and improve use of data to drive prevention action and increase the number of persons who use drugs that are engaged in care. The funding will provide Community Health Workers and a Care Coordinator; enhancement of the current post-overdose follow-up system; training for health care providers and law enforcement; assisting places of worship with developing mental health and substance use disorder crisis plans; and supporting a database for healthcare providers to track entering and re-entering into care. For Component A Harm Reduction, the funding will improve identification of and outreach to people in need of care for substance use disorder and increase access to and awareness of harm reduction services. The funding will ensure healthcare providers either prescribe naloxone or refer and also provide stipends to organizations to pay people for educating and distributing naloxone. The funding will increase the community’s ability to respond to acute events and deploy an Investigative Analyst at the Wichita Police Department. For Component A Clinician and Health Systems Best Practices, funding will increase capacity of healthcare providers to connect people who use drugs (PWUD) to care and services, increase healthcare provider expertise and confidence to provide equitable care; and increase awareness of best practices for pain management by contracting for ongoing, regular trainings. Graduate student interns will work on projects related to education about clinical guidelines. A SCHD-led collaborative will implement and advance health system-level activities. For Component A Overdose Surveillance Infrastructure, funding will increase data sharing and data use that informs prevention and response efforts. SCHD will collect, analyze and communicate grant activity data; perform an environmental scan for overdose-related data; create a public-facing “data hub” website; implement a system for partners to share data; and evaluate processes and outcomes. For Component B Toxicologic Testing of Drug Product and/or Paraphernalia and optional ME/C funding, SCHD will partner with Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center (RFSC), which will conduct laboratory toxicologic testing of drug products to track the lethality of the illicit drug market. The RFSC serves as both the local Crime Laboratory and District Coroner’s Office. The main Component B funding will allow RFSC to update equipment, purchase supplies, and hire an additional Forensic Scientist to shorten turnaround times and perform the timely analysis of the 500 required drug products. The optional ME/C funding will improve drug overdose death investigations through the hiring of an additional Medical Investigator. Investigators will take over the duty of drug collection from law enforcement and submit the products to the laboratory.
