SC Health Dept. launches overdose tracker with focus on non-fatal drug trends [Video]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) – The Department of Health and Environmental Control will be sharing monthly non-fatal overdose data online publicly to transparently show drug trends and make people aware of overdose effects across the state.

Beth Bair, the director of chemistry at DHEC, says fatal overdose numbers and data are telling but non-fatal drug overdoses may also play a role in understanding and preventing the epidemic.

“This has been a labor of love for us. Getting this dashboard posted and made publicly available. We received a grant in 2019 from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] to establish an overdose biosurveillance program at the public health lab. We obviously know that we have a very serious problem with overdoses in South Carolina and with drug-related overdoses,” Bair says.

Click here to visit DHEC’s Overdose Dashboard

She hopes the site is another tool in the box of professionals who work in treatment and prevention. The site breaks …