A new app is making real-time overdose data available to health officials and members of local law enforcement. It's Broome County's next step in combatting a growing drug epidemic.
Police on scene will report the overdose to a 911 dispatcher, who then logs the data into a database. The information includes the victim's name and location; whether the overdose was fatal or non-fatal; and if naloxone was administered. That overdose will then appear on a map, which can be tracked all the way down to the street on which it happened.
Broome County is the first area in the state to use this technology.
"Having that data at our fingertips, we can help save lives, help prosecute cases," said Broome County Sheriff's Capt. Kate Newcomb, "and yet again, it's just another tool in the toolbox for law enforcement."
The public will not have access to this app. It's strictly for law enforcement and health officials, but the health department plans to release public health alerts if bad batches of heroin are found.