Fentanyl Video Series Up For National Award

Waukesha County staff at the Department of Health & Human Services have received a nomination as a finalist in the 2024 National Information Officers Association in the category of "Best Use of Video." The videos nominated were launched publicly in May 2024. Four videos feature stories of loss, recovery, front line heroes and efforts Waukesha County is doing to combat the fentanyl crisis.  

More than 100 total submissions were received for the seven categories for the 2024 NIOA Awards, which will be presented at the annual conference in August.

"Proud to see the hard work of our staff’s efforts being recognized. Waukesha County is one of the top three finalists for best use of video for the documentary series we produced in our efforts to fight the opioid/ fentanyl crisis. Congratulations to our team on this accomplishment," HHS Director, Elizabeth Aldred said.

In 2022, County Executive Paul Farrow declared fentanyl a community health crisis. 

According to the Waukesha County Medical Examiner’s Office they's seeing at least a 20% decrease in overall overdose deaths from 2022 to 2023 and a 35% decrease from 2021 to 2023.

Overdose Prevention