The new bathroom sensors will send alerts to nearby health care professionals whenever it detects no movement for a period of time. (Island Health)

By Jordan Davidson

new innovation

Motion sensors which detect ‘as slight as your heartbeat’ aim to reduce drug toxicity deaths in Nanaimo

Mar 16, 2023 | 4:59 PM

NANAIMO — There’s a new tool being deployed to help monitor and detect toxic drug poisonings.

Specialized motion detection sensors are being added to select bathrooms at Island Health facilities in the Comox Valley and Nanaimo which send out alerts when someone hasn’t moved for a minute or has been in the washroom for a set amount of time.

Medical health officer for Island Health Dr. Charmaine Enns said these sensors go beyond detecting simple physical movements.

“It detects even movement as slight as your heartbeat and you’re breathing, so it detects no movement, that means no heartbeat, no breathing. This is a valuable resource for any medical condition where somebody may collapse.”

These sensors are installed in two community health clinics in Courtenay in October, identified as high-risk for drug poisoning in its initial trial run.

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They’re due in Nanaimo later in March.

Dr. Enns said this doesn’t mean people will be busting into bathroom doors unannounced.

She said staff will follow a protocol once an alert goes off, which starts with a simple knock on the door to ensure the person inside is ok.

“If you answer then you’re fine, then there’s no more action needed. But there’s a series of interventions on the door to get somebody’s attention before anyone tries to unlock the door. It’s a significant event if somebody actually has to go through the door.”

The two sites in Courtenay with sensors have been active for a couple of months now, and Dr. Enns said they respond to between five and ten alerts a week between them.

“Of course not all of them are overdose-related, or poisoned drug supply consumption, but they have resulted in those text alerts going off. I think there’s only been one time we’ve had to access the bathroom amongst all of those alerts.”

L to R: Manager of the Comox Valley Primary Care Evan Humphreys, medical health officer Dr. Charmaine Enns, executive director of the Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation Jess Aldred, and board president of the Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation Bill Anglin. (Island Health)

When asked about concerns this would add another responsibility on already overburdened healthcare workers, Enns said they’ve found the opposite effect as it takes away the “background stress” workers may feel whenever someone uses the bathroom.

“Staff are busy, but now they don’t have to worry or have the background anxiety about what’s going on or possibly happening in that bathrooms. Now they know that if anything untoward happens where someone is not moving…that there will be an alert to someone appropriate on-site.”

Enns said this is one of their first trials under Island Health’s innovation program and is the result of input from staff, physicians, partners, and their patients.

“Staff are happy, people using clinics are happy, it’s another step forward in destigmatizing and supporting along with this continuum of response.”

In 2022, there were at least 2,272 illicit drug toxicity deaths in B.C, with 386 of those occurring in the Island Health region.

January marked an especially deadly month in Nanaimo, leading the health authority with 12 drug toxicity-related fatalities.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow