In 2017, Hamilton County, Ohio suffered 570 overdose deaths. As of May 2023, there has been a 24% decrease in overdose deaths, largely attributed to the work of the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition (HC ARC) and its strategic deflection programming.

HC ARC strives to combat overdoses and overdose deaths through cross-sector planning and collaboration. With the launch of Hamilton County’s co-responder pilot project, responders can identify individuals responsible for overdose calls. The project, which has expanded quickly, emphasizes triage, assessment, harm reduction, connection to appropriate services, and intensive ongoing follow-up support to keep individuals within the continuum of care.

In this session, attendees were introduced to Meagan Guthrie of Hamilton County Office of Addiction Response , Dr. Kelly Firesheets of Cordata, and Chief Tom Synan of Village of Newtown. Presenters highlighted innovative methods to identify and catalog services in target areas and how to create a coordinated pathway to care by sharing and maximizing outreach data. The presenters walked through the development of the initiative, the data collection, and talked about the key metrics of success for the work.