JANESVILLE
Rock County in January saw 16.25 overdoses per 100,000 people, the largest spike since June.
First responders administered 4.4 doses of Narcan per 100,000 people in the county in December, down from the 2019 high of 16.16 per 100,000 in June.
In 2019, 6,838 opioid doses were prescribed per 10,000 people in the county, the fewest since 2015.
These data and more are accessible to the community thanks to an initiative from the Rock County Public Health Department.
The health department used a $10,000 state grant to create an online dashboard to track metrics related to opioid use in Rock County, said Nick Zupan, epidemiologist.
The county hopes making data easily available in one space will help people recognize the weight and reality of how the opioid epidemic is affecting the community, Zupan said.
It also gives individuals and organizations working to end the epidemic access to data that could be used for research, grant applications and more.
“We can convert data into usable information,†said Marie-Noel Sandoval, health officer for the department.
Data on opioid overdoses will be updated regularly to reflect the number of overdoses per month.
The dashboard shows only the number of overdoses recorded at health care facilities, so it is not a complete count of overdoses, Zupan said.
“It is intended to be a metric to identify trends or emerging concerns,†according to a disclaimer on the dashboard.
Many people experience overdoses and do not seek a medical professional.
Spikes are identified when the overdose rate climbs higher than 15 per 100,000 people in a month.
Spikes happened in June and October in 2019, with June having the highest rate since November 2017 at 18.13 per 100,000.
The dashboard also tracks the rate of Naloxone administration per month in 2019.
Naloxone, a drug used to reverse overdoses, was administered in Rock County at a rate higher than the state average of 8.22 per 100,000 six months in 2019: March, April, June, July, October and November, according to the data.
Rock County residents might be at an increased risk of overdoses in months when naloxone rates are higher than state average, according to the dashboard.
The data reflects only incidents of naloxone administered by first responders, meaning there are likely more instances of naloxone used than what is shown, Zupan said.
Naloxone is available at many local pharmacies. Anyone can administer it, and several nonprofits have offered training sessions to teach people how to use it.
Rock CountyÃÛèÖÊÓƵ opioid related deaths have climbed as the number of prescriptions given have fallen.
In 2019, Rock County saw 6,838 opioid prescriptions written per 10,000 people, according to the data.
That is the lowest since 2015 when 10,354 prescriptions were administered per 10,000 people.
Rock CountyÃÛèÖÊÓƵ prescription rate is higher than the state average, according to the dashboard.
Along with the updated dashboard, the county has added an updated list of resources for people looking for help with addiction, including contact information for the Janesville and Beloit walk-in clinics.
Zupan recommends people reach out to the walk-in clinic first because clinic staff can help connect them with the best resources to fit their needs.
