Sen. Doug Mastriano is pictured during a panel discussion in the state Capitol in early March.

A Republican candidate for governor is proposing legislation to increase the information available about opioid overdoses in Pennsylvania.

Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Chambersburg, and Sen. David Argall, R-Mahanoy City, have proposed Senate Bill 1152, which would require drug overdose incidents are reported by first responders into the ODMAP system, the state’s Overdose Information Network or any other platform approved by the Pennsylvania State Police within 24 hours. Currently, the Pennsylvania State Police and some state agencies already do so on a voluntary basis, but the information is incomplete and not always timely.

While some agencies in Pennsylvania currently utilize ODMAP, entries are voluntary and nowhere near indicative of the true state of the overdose epidemic,” Mastriano wrote in his legislative memorandum. “Our state does not have a uniform statewide reporting system.”

The bill requires first responders to submit at least the date and time of the overdose, the location of the overdose, whether the overdose was fatal or not and if nalaxone or another overdose reversal drug was used. The State Police will also be required to issue a progress report to the state Legislature as it builds a reporting system.

The senators wrote overdose deaths increased by 14% in Pennsylvania in 2020 compared to 2019, with 5,000 people killed. Of those 5,000 deaths, the senators wrote it is estimated close to 4,000 involved fentanyl or fentanyl-related susbtances.

Overdose deaths were as low as 2,700 in Pennsylvania in 2014, then jumped up to 5,400 in 2017 before the pandemic, according to the CDC.

The legislation directs the State Police to ascertain and document the number, trends and patterns associated with known and suspected overdoses and put an annual report online so it can be referenced by counties, local governments and the public.

“Statewide adaptation of ODMAP will allow county and local officials to develop an overdose spike response plan to develop parameters to identify an overdose spike and coordinate the response of public health, emergency management, first responders,community organizations, and health care providers with the goal of preventing and reducing the harm caused by overdose spikes,” Mastriano and Argall wrote in their legislative memorandum.

While the State Police would be allowed to come up with their own system, Mastriano and Argall point the ODMAP created in 2017 by the U.S. Office of the National Drug Control Policy’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. ODMAP provides near real-time overdose data across jurisdictions to support public safety and public health efforts to mobilize an immediate response to a sudden spike in overdose events. ODMAP is accessible by mobile device, free to use for participating agencies, requires minimal training, and allows users to input overdose data in less than a minute. Information about overdose incidents remains confidential at all times pursuant to applicable laws and regulations pertaining to the protection of health information.

Neighboring Chautauqua County used ODMAP in 2020 to quickly tell the public of a rash of overdoses. Twenty-four non-fatal overdoses and four fatal overdoses were reported through ODMAP over the course of about 20 days. Having the data available quickly helped county officials make more narcan available to those who needed it and to warn people about potentially tainted drugs circulating through the county.