New Texas law will help first responders track overdoses in real-time 

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Lake Travis Fire Rescue Chief Robert Abbott knows the heartache.

Families in his community including his department impacted by overdoses and fentanyl. 

"Hits home — I mean you start going, is this in my backyard — no, it's your front yard," Abbott said. 

In 2021, his Assistant Fire Chief, Mike Prather, lost his son to a fentanyl overdose. Prather recalled a frantic call from his wife saying she couldn't wake up their son, Kyle. 

"I've been in the fire services for 23 years — here in my mind being a healthy 25-year-old kid — this could be an overdose. All I could think about was my wife was about to try to resuscitate her son the same way I've tried to resuscitate people for years." Prather said emotionally.

The department started raising awareness through PSAs about the tragic losses and the need to better track overdoses. 

"There wasn't any data that public safety agencies could easily see and access to see where these trends were emerging. And if there was ever an uptick in cases," Abbott explained. 

KXAN investigators have detailed concerns over lack of tracking overdoses specifically fentanyl-related deaths for years.

Real-time snapshot of growing problem

Last year, LTFR started using the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program or ODMAP. The software tracks and reports in real-time overdoses, whether it was fatal or not, and if Narcan was used.

Less than a dozen agencies in Central Texas already voluntarily use the mapping tool.

"When we started using this about a year ago, we started seeing overdoses on the peripheral of our district which we weren't aware that the other departments were having," Abbott said. "And in doing that we started to see where these little islands of need, and harm were happening — and we wanted to try to get ahead of that."

LTFR data shared with KXAN investigators shows since 2020, the number of suspected overdoses in the community has gone up 35%. 

"We did see overdoses increase in our area. While it may not have been at the rate that you may see in other communities, we did see a higher-than-average reported overdose data. And to respond to that we needed to know better what our neighbors were responding to as well," Abbott said. 

He added that the software has helped them decide if social services are needed or if a Narcan location should be added for public access and if there's a stream of supply of opioids and fentanyl coming to their community. 

Other states with legislation

Abbott has felt so strongly about the impact of ODMAP that he testified this past session in support of legislation to mandate using the software statewide.

It was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott last month. The law goes into effect on September 1st. Texas is now among 10 states with similar legislation. 

"We need to be able to measure where overdoses are occurring. We know it's happening far too often across our state, but we need to be able to see you know, if there's concentration in a specific geographic area within a certain length of time, then that tells public health officials, first responders, law enforcement, that there's some issue going on there — and we need to intervene before there's more overdoses," said State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie.

Turner, who authored the House Bill, said he was initially concerned about privacy and making sure it's protected. 

"This database is not going to include names. It's not even going to include exact addresses," Turner added. "In no way is it going to jeopardize anyone's personal privacy. That's the last thing we would want to do. We want to use this information in the aggregate to be able to help protect the public health."

The Texas Harm Reduction Alliance was listed as against the legislation during the Senate public hearing. KXAN investigators have reached out for comment on why it opposed the legislation but have not gotten a response back.

No cost tool

ODMAP is already funded by the federal government and there are no costs for agencies wanting access. Only authorized users, which include public health officials, law enforcement and first responders can access the system.

"The magic in this whole platform is that it's only as good as what you put into it. So, if we're not putting a lot of data in that we know is happening, we know these other areas are having overdoses, they're just not being recorded in the same manner through the same vehicle. It has a rubber band kind of ripple effect on everybody else who's trying to do things to reduce the problem," Abbott explained. 

Abbott said now that it's required by law, he believes the impact will be more wide-reaching. 

"Every one of these dots on a map is somebody who's struggling — somebody who is only moments away from dying," Abbott said. "Ultimately, we want to see all those dots go away because that does represent a significant problem."