BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — During a recent two-month stretch, Brown County received extra help in its fight against drug overdoses that not only produced busts on drug suppliers, but also brought together two departments to get a better handle on the problem.
A prime example of Brown County’s current crisis with drug overdoses came last month when three people had to be taken to the hospital from a Bellevue apartment complex not far off Verlin Road.
“Shortly thereafter, just a few hours after being released, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office responded to the same location with one of those three individuals that had overdosed again and at that time had passed,” said Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain.
To avoid situations like that, the county has been increasing efforts to track down suppliers of overdose victims.
For 60 days, starting April 24, the county was the first in the state to participate in the Wisconsin Overdose Initiative. Local, state and federal agencies came together to comb through data to benefit not only law enforcement, but also Brown County Public Health.
“It helped introduce us to the overdose detection mapping systems,” said Anna Nick, Brown County Public Health Officer. “It’s a response system that we can use to better respond and prevent overdose cases in our community.”
Over the 60 days, analysts poured over cases for 12 overdose victims – all but one was from fentanyl. They made 18 electronic record requests, providing more than 90,000 records and 1,078 names were put through state and federal databases.
“This left no rock unturned for those who want to deal narcotics in our communities,” said Kyle Henry, the lead analyst for the Wisconsin Overdose Initiative.
Investigators say of the 12 victims, seven suppliers were referred for prosecution.
Perhaps of equal importance, all the work produced loads of data for law enforcement to further investigations and public health for treatment, prevention, and education.
“When you have such a complex problem like this, it takes us all working together, so this has been a great effort to do that,” said Nick.
The two-month initiative also helped network all law enforcement agencies in the county to report overdoses to a single mapping system. Health officials say it will allow them to strategically apply evidence-based practices towards the county’s most vulnerable populations.
