TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y. (WENY) -- Tompkins County Whole Health released data that spans over five years, in regard to unintentional fatal overdoses. Whole Health Commissioner Frank Kruppa said this data was compiled from medical examiner records with a sample size of 100 individuals who accidentally overdosed and died.

Kruppa said other drug-related data includes people who intentionally overdosed to commit suicide or died in drug-related car crashes. This data, specifically, was compiled to show the Tompkins County community who is being affected by drug use.

"While it's 100 deaths...and that's way too many, it's still a relatively small number," he said. "So, it is challenging to make any real, significant statements on what the data necessarily means...but it begins to paint a picture." 

Kruppa said this kind of data will be able to provide the community with solutions to combat the opioid epidemic with specific backgrounds and occupations. 

"22% of the deaths were working in food service at some point, prior to their death," he said. "That tells us there's a place that we have not been targeting, locally, that we should potentially be looking at. How do we communicate about the risk of drug use to those populations?"

Whole Health is preparing to enter Phase Two of this project to collect overdose data that did not result in death, Kruppa said. But before that happens, the organization's goal is to make sure that people who are intentionally taking drugs should know the risks that come along.