The DAWN LIVE! application is a password-protected Web-based data mining tool. DAWN reporters review all patient/decedent files at their facility to determine whether each Emergency Department (ED) visit or death was drug-related. DAWN cases are determined by ED visits or Medical Examiners (ME) deaths in which drug use is implicated.

For each DAWN case, the DAWN Reporter submits demographics and characteristics of the case, including the specific drugs that were involved. Eventually, SAMHSA publishes national and metropolitan area estimates of drug-related ED visits and mortality (ME) data for each participating jurisdiction. However, before estimates are released, select organizations are given access to the raw data in the system. For instance, facilities and jurisdictions have access to their own data that they have reported, the FDA has aggregate access, and DAWN has full data access.

It is also important to note that DAWN never collects personal information that can be used to iddentify an individual.

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