Project ECHO: Overdose Fatality Investigation Techniques (OD-FIT)

Project ECHO: OD-FIT logoCoroners and medical examiners are called after a fatal overdose to investigate the cause and manner of death. Public health agencies and practitioners use this mortality data to better understand trends in fatal overdoses and to inform the allocation of resources, such as fentanyl test strips and naloxone in states with high rates of overdose deaths. 

Project ECHO: Overdose Fatality Investigation Techniques (OD-FIT) is a collaboration between ASTHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide coroners, medical examiners, toxicologists, forensic pathologists, and public health personnel with an opportunity to learn and share their overdose investigation expertise with peers across the United States and territories. By strengthening the medicolegal death investigation system, state and territorial health agencies can improve the accuracy and reliability of overdose death data to benefit public health and safety programs, law enforcement investigations, and upstream prevention strategies. 

Project ECHO OD-FIT consists of live online sessions featuring didactic presentations followed by case study discussions. Didactic recordings and accompanying resources from the most recent series can be found below.

Why Should You Join

Who is the ECHO: OD-FIT Hub?

Image of 6 OD-FIT Planning MembersThe ECHO: OD-FIT Hub includes expert coroners, medical examiners, and toxicologists from all over the United States. Additional planning team members from ASTHO and CDC have also helped to make these sessions possible. A big thank you to all involved!

  • Alfarena “Alfie” McGinty
  • Kelly Keyes
  • Bruce Goldberger, PhD
  • Daniel Dye, MD
  • Kurt Nolte, MD
  • Tom Gilson, MD

PROJECT ECHO OD-FIT Sessions

Each session includes a PowerPoint slide deck and one-page summary to accompany the session recording. Case studies are not recorded or posted to protect the privacy of participants. Additional information on terminology, presenters, and topic takeaways, can be found on the one-pagers.

Managing Difficult Workplace Experiences and Stress for Medical Examiners and Coroners

Tips and Tricks for Building a Resilient Medicolegal Death Investigators' Workforce

 

The Intersection of Death Investigation and Overdose Prevention: Why Data Matters

Work Related Stress and Wellnesss

Differentiating Between Suicidal and Accidental Drug Overdoses

Significant and Contributory Factors

This project and publication were supported by the cooperative agreement number, CDC-RFA-OT18-1802, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.