Nathan Hunsinger
Audio By Carbonatix
Numbers can be deceiving when gauging the success of the Dallas Opioid Response Team’s efforts. The number of overdose calls the crew responds to continues to grow and has been alarmingly high for each of the three years the team has been in operation. Given how uncontrollable the opioid and fentanyl crisis in the U.S. can seem, it’s a wonder that anyone can find rays of hope to suggest that any possible solution could be working.
In 2023, Dallas Fire-Rescue teamed with Fort Worth’s Recovery Resource Center to create the Opioid Response Team (ORT). In the days immediately following an opioid overdose reported through 911, a group of select staff, including EMS personnel and a certified recovery support peer specialist, will attempt to make contact with the person who had just received life-saving treatment.
In 2025, DFR responded to 1,136 911 calls for suspected opioid overdoses. That’s up a small bit from 2024, when 1,123 overdoses were called in. In 2025, 1,497 attempts were made to contact the person who had been treated for an overdose, an increase over the 1,405 attempts in 2024. But it’s the next couple of vital statistics that can play tricks on the mind.
Last year, the ORT made actual contact with 165 patients, up from 2024 when the ORT made contact with 110 overdose patients. In 2025, the ORT was able to get information on overdose prevention, Narcan education, and an array of treatment options and recovery support into the hands of 130 friends or family members of the person treated for an overdose, a big jump from the 36 in 2024.
The disparity between initial attempts at contact and actual contact with a patient is startling. A roughly 10% success rate in contacting someone who has been treated for an opioid overdose, quite frankly, doesn’t sound terribly impressive when viewed in black and white. But life isn’t lived on a spreadsheet and the life-saving impact of one person means much more than what the stats might suggest.
“Those numbers, while they’re small in proportion, they are huge as far as impact, especially if you know someone or you’ve been close to someone who’s been impacted by the opioid crisis,” said EMS Section Chief Chris Chiara. “That’s hopefully breaking the cycle of addiction for them. And that’s also having a huge impact on their family… That may be a child’s parent that they depend on to take care of them. So any person we can reach and get them enrolled into treatment is a huge impact.”
A 50% increase in the number of patients the ORT successfully contacted is significant, regardless of the raw numbers. Chiara says that simply applying the lessons the ORT has learned in its earliest days has helped them see an encouraging improvement in that vital area.
“This is an innovative approach to treating an at-risk population,” he said. “And in that first year, we learned about good times to show up, how to show up at someone’s house and make this kind of cold introduction. We also realized that we may run this program on an 8 to 5 Monday through Friday schedule, but that’s not how some people live their lives, so we started a pilot program where we did follow-up visits on Saturdays too.”
The goal isn’t to merely make contact, hand out some brochures and check another box. The members of the ORT from the Recovery Resource Center are trained peer specialists who offer those who have been recently treated for an overdose a ear of someone who has likely lived through a similar experience. Sure, getting someone to answer the door is a key step, but what happens after that matters just as much, if not more.
“Once you can start addressing the underlying issues, whether it’s depression, whether it’s stress, or just kind of unlocking those paths that help someone ultimately, you know, heal from their addiction,” Chiara said.
While the abuse of fentanyl and other opioids continues to cause a stunning number of overdoses and deaths, there have been signs of a downward trend across the nation. Recently released federal data shows that in 2025, through August at least, overdose deaths fell in 45 states, including Texas. Should that trend continue while the Dallas ORT continues to reach more overdose patients, the stats will certainly look different, and the way the program leaders define its success will likely change as well.
“The important thing is that we continue to address the problem as long as there is a problem in our community,” Chiarra said. “And I think the ultimate sign of success for us is when that number of referrals or overdose calls is zero. That’s when we can claim true success because we have stopped the problem. We don’t have to respond to the problem anymore because there is no problem. That’s a lofty goal.”
