Initial funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021 and the Department of Public Health (DPH) in following years, provided Recovery Bartow the opportunity to establish the first Post Overdose Response Team (PORT) in the state of Georgia. The team, comprised of Certified Peer Specialists, responds to neighborhoods that ODMAP (Overdose Detection and Mapping Application Program) indicates as having a suspected overdose in Bartow & Gordon counties.
In 2023, in response to 221 suspected *overdoses, this team visited 2,371 homes where they left information on The Arena’s free recovery support services and distributed 72 Narcan, an opioid reversal medication, to family members and friends.
*ODMAP does not capture all suspected overdoses.
ODMAP data allows the Post Overdose Response Team to:
- Follow up on suspected overdoses with offers of support and information regarding local and regional recovery resources to the victim and/or their family/friends
- Provide harm reduction education to individuals, families, and the community at large
- Provide targeted Narcan training and distribution
Post Overdose Response Team:
Sandy Hyatte, CARES, CPS-AD
Kevin Harris, CARES, CPS-AD
