Burke County details new ‘port team,’ dashboard and naloxone push ahead of Jan. 1 launch
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Summary
Burke County officials reviewed plans for a branded post‑overdose “port team,” an ESO dashboard to track EMS and overdose incidents, a naloxone procurement switch to $22/box, and a target Jan. 1 staffing launch; MAT in the field is pending state Office of EMS protocol approval.
Dr. Katie Samuels, who led the presentation, told county officials that Burke County is launching a branded "port team" — a post‑overdose and community paramedic response designed to link people to recovery resources and address social determinants of health. She said the team’s goal is to reach 24/7 coverage by Jan. 1 and that two evening peer-support/corresponder positions remain open.
Zack, the ESO presenter, demonstrated an electronic dashboard the county will use to track EMS patient encounters, repeat callers and overdose incident reports. "For patient care incidences through the last 360 days, EMS ended up having ... 20,600 and some calls," Zack said, describing the dashboard’s ability to identify frequent-utilizer patients and generate MIH (mobile integrated health) referrals the port team can act on.
Zack said the dashboard includes an "overdose incident report" tab and can classify incidents by likely substance, with the caveat that final substance identification often depends on hospital lab testing. He reported that community paramedics led by Tina have treated 255 individuals to date and that the dashboard will help build a baseline for measuring the program’s impact.
Samules told the group she has built contract performance indicators into provider agreements and asked that the county receive a dashboard view of those metrics monthly. "This could be what you consider a baseline where we're measuring ... the improvements that we can make over time," she said.
On medication‑assisted treatment in the field, a medical presenter said a MAT protocol has been written and signed by medical direction and is now in review by the state Office of EMS; the presenter expected the review and ordering of medications to move the county toward field MAT availability in the early December–January timeframe. "That protocol is with him ... We are now in the process of getting that to the state of North Carolina," the speaker said.
County officials and staff also discussed data‑sharing limits and privacy. Zack said some datasets will include protected health information and require HPI privileging for internal review, while aggregated or deidentified reports can be prepared for broader sharing. Commissioners asked whether law enforcement or the sheriff would receive data; Zack said information could be shared on request but that initial reporting will focus on program development and internal markers.
The presenters highlighted a procurement change to extend naloxone supply: a vendor offering naloxone at $22 per box (down from $38) and a vending machine funded by a Blue Cross Blue Shield grant that has distributed roughly 140 boxes in about 14 weeks. Samules said those changes should help saturation efforts while the port team and provider network come online.
The meeting closed with plans to present provider proposals in January and to circulate draft contracts for legal review before possible referral to the Board of Commissioners in February.
