Welcome to the VDH Overdose Emergency Department (ED) Visits data dashboard. VDH updates the data each month. Data are preliminary and may change. Use the text links above to explore different data views. The text link for the current view is in orange. For more details, see About the Data.
Categories of overdose ED visit drug types:
- All drug (includes prescription, over the counter, illicit, and other substances)
- Opioid or unspecified (includes prescription and illicit, excludes heroin)
- Heroin
- Stimulant (includes cocaine, methamphetamine, etc)
Note: Intentional overdoses are excluded from all categories.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Office of Epidemiology collects and analyzes health data from participating emergency departments (EDs) in Virginia. All non-federal acute care hospitals and free-standing emergency care centers report ED visit data to VDH.
Data are for clinical care of patients in healthcare settings. Public health surveillance is a secondary use. When interpreting drug overdose ED data, please consider syndromic surveillance data limitations.
Data are preliminary and subject to change as additional data are received.
Note: Emergency department utilization in Virginia decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Use caution when comparing 2020 statistics to other years.
Case Definitions: Drug overdose ED visits are identified using key terms in the chief complaint (reason for visit) and discharge diagnosis codes. ED visits are categorized into one or more of the following drug overdose case definitions:
- All drug: any drug (includes prescription, over the counter, illicit, and other substances)
- Opioid: any opioid or unspecified substance, excluding heroin. Includes fentanyl.
- Heroin: heroin
- Stimulant: any stimulant, including cocaine and methamphetamine
Intentional overdose ED visits are excluded from all categories. The all drug case definition was updated in June 2022.
Measures: ED visit counts and rates per 10,000 ED visits. Rates allow comparison over time and between different groups, such as age, sex, and geographic areas.
Geography: Data are for Virginia residents. VDH assigns city/county, health district, and health region using the patient’s residential zip code. ED visit counts are combined for certain cities and counties due to some zip codes spanning more than one locality. Use the VDH Geography Locator Tool to find the health district or region for a city or county in Virginia.
Confidentiality: VDH suppresses current year counts of 1 to 4 and rates with numerators of 1 to 4 to maintain confidentiality and accurate rate calculations. Suppressed statistics are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Demographics: Visits with missing values for age, sex, race, or ethnicity are excluded from the respective visualizations but are included in totals. Demographic data by health district and locality are presented as 5-year combined counts/rates to minimize data suppression. VDH uses the following combined race/ethnicity categories:
- American Indian or Alaska Native - Non-Hispanic persons who identify as “American Indian or Alaska Native”
- Asian or Pacific Islander – Non-Hispanic persons who identify as “Asian” or “Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander”
- Black or African American – Non-Hispanic persons who identify as “Black or African American”
- Hispanic or Latino – Individuals of any race who identify as “Hispanic or Latino”
- White – Non-Hispanic persons who identify as “White” alone
- Other Race – Non-Hispanic persons who report “Other Race” alone