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Vancouver Co-Op Develops Tech To Help Prevent ODs, Especially For Alone Users

The Canadian Press, 19 Sep, 2018 12:39 PM

VANCOUVER — A Vancouver technology co-operative is gaining recognition for developing a mobile app and three other digital monitoring tools aimed at preventing overdoses.

Brave Technology is the only Canadian participant among 12 companies awarded $200,000 in the Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge, and they are all now vying for a $1-million grant to come up with technical solutions to address the overdose crisis.

Brave's chief operating officer Oola Krieg says people would log on to the Be Safe app before using drugs to connect with trained volunteer responders who could step in with the overdose-reversing medication naloxone or call an ambulance.

Krieg says the app would provide digital supervision for people who take drugs alone and don't access supervised injection sites, even if they're available.

Brave has also developed a button people could press before using drugs to alert staff in a supported housing building, for example, to get help if users don't respond within a given time.

Krieg says the button has been used as a pilot project in Vancouver and three more pilots will begin in the city in November as the co-op continues developing its technology for any community struggling with overdoses.

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