Across all time spans, the highest rates of overdoses were seen in ages 0 to 1 and ages 12 to 17, among females, and in urban teaching hospital EDs.

Each of these crises has been steadily building for years, and COVID, in part, masked these growing issues in our EDs.

Yet today, our EDs are overwhelmed with patients who do not necessarily need emergency medical care.

Often, EDs are the only source of health care for unhoused individuals, and while some visits are for true medical emergencies, law enforcement and first responders are increasingly bringing people to the ED because no other alternative exists.

Our EDs are designed to care for acutely ill and injured patients, not to provide shelter, routine medical visits, or long-term care for unhoused patients also experiencing mental health and/or substance use disorder issues.