More reporting system access needed after Columbia County fatal overdoses, group says
Jun 30, 2025
HUDSON — The executive director of a substance misuse awareness nonprofit organization has called for increased access to an overdose reporting system after three overdoses were reported in Columbia County last week.
In a June 22 Facebook post, the Hudson Police Department reported three suspected fatal overdoses occurred in Columbia County over a one week span, including two in the city of Hudson.
The overdoses are still under investigation, and the Hudson Police Department said that it had not received any confirmation of whether or not the drugs taken contained contaminated substances. New York State Police Troop K Public Information Officer Krystal Paolicelli also said state police responded to two overdose incidents in the county since May 1.
“We are actively working with other agencies within the county to determine the source and potential nexus of the supply chain responsible for these substances,” Poalicelli said.
In light of the suspected overdoses, Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition Executive Director Hannah Calhoun said Monday more access is needed to ODMAP, an overdose reporting and mapping system used by first responders.
The three reported overdose deaths technically do not constitute a spike, because they were not reported using the ODMAP system, preventing the county Department of Health from being notified and declaring a spike. Calhoun said she met with members of the Hudson Police Department last week, who said they did not have access to the ODMAP system, but they were looking to get access to report overdoses.
“If they don’t have access to this system, if all law enforcement and EMS don’t have access to this reporting system, then the right people don’t have access,” Calhoun said. “So, that’s a barrier we have to figure out.”
According to the Columbia County Department of Health’s opioid overdose dashboard, 41 people overdosed in the county in 2024, with two fatalities. So far this year, 15 individuals have overdosed, with two being fatal.
In Greene County in 2023, 87 overdoses occurred, according to data from the Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition.
Calhoun said multiple factors, including a potentially bad batch of drugs, increased fentanyl in the drug supply, or polysubstance abuse — when a person uses more than one drug at a time — could be some of the reasons behind the number of overdoses that occurred over the course of one week.
“A bad batch could be part of it,” she said. “It could be any number of things.”
Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminsky said Monday the sheriff’s office had not experienced a spike in overdoses. Village of Catskill Police Department Sgt. David Sherman also said the police department had not responded to any overdoses, so far this year.
“We’ve seen a decrease over the years,” Sherman said.
Calhoun said across law enforcement, EMS and counties, there are different reporting procedures for overdoses, which impacts communication between the agencies and organizations that can provide resources in the affected communities.
“Our goal is really to support coordination so there can be a mobilized response and so it can be cooperative,” she said.
In the face of an increase in overdoses, Calhoun said it’s important for members of the community to know where to go to access opioid overdose reversal drug, such as naloxone, or for test strips to test drugs for fentanyl or xylazine in the drugs they may be using, such as at the free vending machine located at 713 Union St. in Hudson.
Organizations not being able to coordinate their responses to overdoses makes things more confusing for community members, she said.
“We definitely want people informed,” she said. “And for those who are using drugs, that they know what they’re using may have more potency. There’s so much access and there’s no reason people shouldn’t be able to access supplies and resources.”