Austin Public Health Launches Updated Opioid Overdose Dashboard

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Public Health has launched an updated Opioid Overdose Dashboard, providing overdose data and trends for Austin and Travis County. The dashboard serves as the latest tool in the fight to recognize the impact of overdoses in our community and supports data-informed decisions about prevention, treatment and recovery resources. 

“Our updated dashboard highlights the continued public health threat posed by opioid overdoses in our community,” said Austin–Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes. “By monitoring and visualizing overdose trends, we can identify emerging risks, raise public awareness, and provide timely education and resources. Making this information accessible empowers individuals to make informed decisions to protect themselves and others, prevent overdoses, and ultimately save lives.” 

Following City Council Resolution #20220616-053, Austin Public Health held meetings with various stakeholders, community partners, consultants and departments within the City of Austin. Following these meetings, staff created a comprehensive data dashboard with helpful visualization tools. This is the latest version of that dashboard. 

“Every overdose affects families, friends and entire communities,” said Austin Public Health Director Adrienne Sturrup. “By sharing this information, we can better understand where needs exist and connect people with support before a tragedy occurs.” 

The dashboard covers important opioid overdose data for Austin and Travis County, including: 

• Fatal opioid overdoses 
• Non-fatal opioid overdoses 
• Non-fatal opioid overdose ER visits & hospitalizations 
• Naloxone distribution by agency 

The data represented in the dashboard is gathered from sources including: 

• Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services 
• Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office 
• Travis County Health and Human Services  
• Texas Syndromic Surveillance System  
• Texas Department of State Health Services 
• CDC Wonder 

You can view the dashboard here. 

To learn more about how you can recognize and prevent opioid overdoses, please visit www.one-dose.org.