The Lifeguard app was in development for several years to ensure it was suitable for those using illicit substances. (Lifeguard)

By Spencer Sterritt

lifeguard

New app saving lives and preventing fatal overdoses

Jun 22, 2020 | 5:42 AM

NANAIMO — A smartphone is now a lifesaver for those using illicit substances.

The Lifeguard app created by BC Emergency Health Services is simple to use, where users select what type of drug their using and start a timer. If they don’t turn the timer off within a certain amount of time, emergency services are called to their location.

Since rolling out in May, the Lifeguard app was used nearly 1,300 across the province.

From June 8 to 14 it was used 10 times by seven users in Nanaimo and 15 times by five users in Port Alberni.

Medical health officer Dr. Paul Hasselback told NanaimoNewsNOW the data presented by the app, such as what time of day it’s most used, will be invaluable for health care professionals.

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The information is especially important since roughly 85 per cent of fatal overdoses occur alone by someone who’s housed.

“That’s a much tougher group to reach out to, in terms of understanding who is using substances and getting this application to them,” he said.

During a recent visit to Wesley St. in downtown Nanaimo near the overdose prevention site, Dr. Hasselback said many on the street were aware the app was available.

“The next phase is really being sure people who are using substances are aware there’s a free application and supports going along with it. We’re all challenged to actually get the message out.”

The Lifeguard app was first imagined roughly three years ago, when a person in recovery had the idea after a dear friend fatally overdosed.

They brought the idea to Neil Lilley with BC Emergency Health Services, who’s worked with them for the last two-and-a-half years on the app.

Lilley said they went through numerous iterations to best design the app for those who need it most.

“It’s really about where the buttons are placed, how they’d search for the address and ensuring there were minimal steps and it was not confusing for them to use. The timer, the volume of the alarm is all from a users perspective, not a 911 perspective.”

Lilley admitted it’s unfortunate the app took so long to design and couldn’t be made available in 2017 or 2018 at the height of the overdose crisis.

“At the end of the day, this application is there to save lives and it had to be significantly tested. We didn’t want a rollout of an application that wasn’t going to work and do more harm.”

Though the highs of the overdose crisis are in the past, an increasingly toxic supply of street drugs is claiming more lives in 2020.

An overdose advisory for all of Vancouver Island was extended once more on June 16 for the sixth time. It’s been in place since early May.

From January to May of 2020, paramedics responded to nearly 270 suspected overdose calls. This is nearly the halfway mark of reaching 2019’s total, which was less than the 2018 and 2017 responses.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt