[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 166 (Tuesday, August 26, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50334-50335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19483]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

    Periodically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration (SAMHSA) will publish a summary of information 
collection requests under OMB review, in compliance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these 
documents, call the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer at (240) 276-1243.

Project: Drug Abuse Warning Network (OMB No. 0930-0078)--Revision

    The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) is an ongoing data system 
that collects information on drug-related medical emergencies as 
reported from about 350 hospitals nationwide, and drug-related deaths 
as reported from 11 states with centralized Medical Examiner offices 
and 125 medical examiners/coroner jurisdictions (ME/C) in 32 
metropolitan areas. DAWN provides national and metropolitan estimates 
of substances involved with drug-related emergency department (ED) 
visits; disseminates information about substances involved in deaths 
investigated by participating medical examiners and coroners (ME/Cs); 
tracks drug abuse patterns, trends, and the emergence of new 
substances; monitors post-market adverse drug incidents; assesses 
health hazards associated with the use of illicit, prescription, and 
over-the-counter drugs; and generates information for national and 
local drug abuse policy and program planning. DAWN data are used by 
Federal, State, and local agencies, as well as universities, 
pharmaceutical companies, and the media.
    From 2009 to 2011, DAWN will continue to recruit hospitals in the 
13 oversampled metropolitan areas and in the remainder of the U.S. in 
order to improve the precision of estimates, adding approximately 43 
sampled hospitals that are currently not

[[Page 50335]]

participating. This additional recruitment is possible as the 
transition to the new sample is finalized. When hospitals from the old 
sample are phased out, they can be replaced with hospitals from the new 
sample. In 2009 and 2010, DAWN plans to recruit 2 States with 
centralized ME/C systems. To achieve full participation by ME/Cs in the 
metropolitan areas currently covered, DAWN plans to recruit 
approximately 20 more ME/Cs from the 13 metropolitan areas, and 
approximately 20 ME/Cs from metropolitan areas in the rest of the 
country. DAWN data are submitted electronically, using eHERS 
(electronic Hospital Emergency Reporting System) and eMERS (electronic 
Medical Examiner Reporting System). In most of the facilities 
participating in DAWN (83 percent of the EDs and 58 percent of the ME/C 
offices), data are collected by government contractor staff; these 
facilities are not included in the burden statement because the 
facility staff are not involved in data collection. The annual burden 
estimates for those EDs and ME/C offices that collect the data using 
their own staff are shown below. There will be minor editorial changes 
to both the ED and ME/C reporting forms to simplify reporting. On the 
ME/C reporting form, a data element for case narrative will be added. 
These changes are not anticipated to impact the overall burden.

                                 Annualized Reporting Burden for DAWN: 2009-2011
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                                                     Estimated
                                     Number of       number of         Total      Estimated time    Total hour
            Activity                respondents    responses per     responses     per response     burden \2\
                                        \1\         respondent                     (in minutes)
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                                              Emergency Departments
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ED Chart review.................              61          24,551       1,497,611             2.5          62,400
Case data entry.................              61             556          33,916               3           1,696
ED activity report..............              61              52           3,172               2             106
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Subtotal....................              61  ..............  ..............  ..............          64,202
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                                           State Medical Examiners \1\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Death investigation records                    6           3,099          18,594               4           1,240
 review.........................
Case data entry.................               6             338           2,028               3             101
ME/C activity report............               6             104             624               2              21
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Subtotal....................               6  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,362
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                                    Individual Medical Examiners/Coroners \1\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Death investigation records                   84           1,097          92,148               4           6,143
 review.........................
Case data entry.................              84              89           7,476               3             374
ME/C activity report............              84              52           4,368               2             146
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Subtotal....................              84  ..............  ..............  ..............           6,663
        TOTAL...................             151  ..............  ..............  ..............          72,227
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\1\ State MEs and some other ME/C offices report for multiple jurisdictions. For this reason, the number of
  respondents is smaller than the number of ME/C jurisdictions participating in DAWN.
\2\ Row and column totals may differ due to rounding.

    Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed 
information collection should be sent by September 25, 2008 to: SAMHSA 
Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management 
and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 
20503; due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of mail 
sent through the U.S. Postal Service, respondents are encouraged to 
submit comments by fax to: 202-395-6974.

    Dated: August 15, 2008.
Elaine Parry,
Acting Director, Office of Program Services.
[FR Doc. E8-19483 Filed 8-25-08; 8:45 am]
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