The Eau Claire City-County Health Department is launching a comprehensive opioid data dashboard that will give critical insight into the impact of opioid use in Eau Claire County, and the prevention and harm reduction strategies that are being implemented.
“We believe data transparency is critically important to guide interventions and policies that can save lives and lessen the impact on communities,”
In Eau Claire County, 82 people died due to drug overdoses between 2018 and 2022; 62 of those deaths (or approximately 76%) were opioid-related. During the same timeframe, more than 488 suspected nonfatal opioid overdoses occurred in Eau Claire County.
The interactive opioid dashboard can be found at bit.ly/opioid-dashboard. It tracks data around three aspects of Eau Claire County’s opioid crisis and response:
· Opioid Use: This section tracks opioid use trends, including opioid prescriptions dispensed, illicit opioid consumption, and youth data.
· Consequences of Opioid Misuse: This section tracks suspected overdose rates, hospital encounters, and mortality data.
· Prevention and Harm Reduction: This section highlights medication disposal, Narcan and fentanyl test strip distribution, opioid workshops, and medication storage resources.
The purpose of the dashboard is to provide community leaders, policymakers, healthcare providers, and the public with another tool to better understand the impact of opioid misuse – and help mitigate the impact on Eau Claire County. The project was funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to increase efforts to collect, analyze, and apply data in the county.
