| Reporter assisted by AI
Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33) highlighted efforts to combat drug overdoses in Pennsylvania during a press conference Jan. 6, according to a community announcement.
Mastriano, who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, discussed Act 18 of 2025, which took effect Jan. 1. The law requires emergency medical services providers to report overdose incidents to the statewide overdose mapping system.
The legislation builds on the Overdose Mapping Act of 2022 and aims to provide law enforcement and healthcare personnel with more information to address the opioid epidemic.
“Our EMS providers are an essential part of our local first responder teams and are often the first to encounter individuals experiencing overdoses,” Mastriano said in the announcement. “The inclusion of their overdose reports in the statewide mapping system arms our law enforcement and health care personnel with more information to aid them in fighting the heroin and opioid epidemic Pennsylvania continues to face.”
The new law has support from law enforcement and the EMS community.
“The Overdose Information Network (ODIN) is one of the most powerful tools we have in the fight to save lives,” Lt. Col. George Bivens, acting commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, said in the announcement. “ODIN allows law enforcement and public health partners to share information about overdoses and Naloxone administrations and identify drug packaging.”
Brian A. Michael, director of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, also expressed support for the law.
“With an evolving and unpredictable drug supply facing both the commonwealth and the nation, cross-sector information and data sharing are critical to maintaining situational awareness,” Michael said in the announcement. “The addition of EMS data into ODIN, and subsequently the HIDTA administered Overdose Detection and Mapping Application Program, improves the effectiveness and efficiency of these tools in the fight against this insidious epidemic.”
Alvin Wang, an EMS physician and president of the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council, emphasized the importance of timely and accurate data.
“From both a clinical and public health standpoint, timely and accurate data are essential to understanding overdose patterns and the resulting demand on the emergency care system,” Wang said in the announcement. “Modernizing overdose event reporting by allowing EMS to meet reporting requirements through existing EMS patient care records enables the use of high-quality clinical data without imposing a second, duplicative documentation burden on front-line clinicians or breaching confidentiality.”
Mastriano also introduced Senate Bill 92, known as “Tyler’s Law,” which would impose a mandatory minimum 25-year sentence for individuals who sell or engage in a monetary transaction to distribute fentanyl resulting in a death. The bill is awaiting action in the House Judiciary Committee.
“I named this legislation after 18-year-old Tyler Shanafelter, who died after taking what he thought was just Percocet — tragically, it was laced with fentanyl,” Mastriano said in the announcement. “Tyler’s Law sends a clear, uncompromising message. If you knowingly sell fentanyl that kills someone in Pennsylvania, you will face a mandatory 25-year prison sentence.”
The mandatory minimum penalty would not apply to drug users who share drugs with friends or family members or those who seek medical help for individuals who overdose.
“Together, Act 18 and Tyler’s Law form the foundation of a stronger, smarter and more compassionate response to the opioid crisis,” Mastriano said in the announcement. “We are not backing down. We are fighting for our communities, for our families and for every Pennsylvanian who has lost someone they love to this epidemic. Because behind every law we pass is a life we’re trying to save.”
This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@usatodayco.com with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at https://cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.
