Olmsted County is set to enhance its approach to overdose prevention with the formation of a new team dedicated to reviewing overdose fatalities. Beginning in January 2025, this team will convene regularly to analyze cases of overdose deaths in the area, aiming to identify targeted strategies for both substance use prevention and intervention efforts.
Review Team’s Objectives and Structure
The initiative, led by Monica Ziebell, head of the county’s Drug and Alcohol Response Team (DART), seeks to gather specific data to better understand local needs. “Getting more specific details for our county will help us identify those needs,” Ziebell stated. The review team comprises representatives from various sectors, including law enforcement, health care, public health, and substance use disorder treatment, as well as Child & Family Services.
This comprehensive approach involves examining not just the circumstances surrounding fatal overdoses but also the lives of the individuals involved. “We are interviewing next of kin,” Ziebell explained. “We will be looking at factors such as previous service involvement, emergency room admissions, and the number of overdoses experienced by the individual.” By assessing these elements, the team aims to pinpoint critical gaps where prevention or intervention could have made a difference.
Abby Tricker, a community health specialist with Olmsted County Public Health Services, highlighted potential areas for intervention. “Maybe it is something we could be doing in schools that would impact folks in childhood,” she suggested. “Or perhaps it involves different screening approaches during healthcare appointments.”
New Response Plans and Funding Support
The creation of the overdose review team coincides with the introduction of a new overdose spike response team. Announced during the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners meeting on November 4, 2024, this team will coordinate responses to clusters of overdoses. It will facilitate communication between state and local agencies as they tackle this pressing issue.
The work of both teams is supported by the county’s opioid settlement funds, which were instrumental in establishing the DART team in 2024. According to Tricker, the spike response team will monitor different tiers of overdose spikes with oversight from the Minnesota Department of Health. “We hope to have a plan created by the end of this year,” she noted, adding that a tabletop exercise is planned for January to test the response strategy.
Through these initiatives, Olmsted County aims to address the overdose crisis at multiple levels. “The micro level is the DART team working directly with individuals,” Ziebell said. “The mezzo level will be the spike response team, and the macro level is the Overdose Fatality Review.”
Statistics from the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office indicate a decline in overdose fatalities in 2024, with 19 deaths reported, a significant reduction from a peak of 56 in 2022. Nonetheless, Tricker cautioned that statewide overdose deaths appear to be rising in 2025, with notable increases observed in June and September. “With the overdose fatality review team operational,” she concluded, “we may gain a clearer understanding of why these trends are occurring.”
