B.C. overdose warning system aims to alert users about potentially deadly drugs
VANCOUVER — Medical health officers in the Vancouver area are aiming to quickly warn drug users about clusters of overdoses and batches of contaminated drugs based on reports from people who use illegal substances.
Sara Young, the regional leader of mental health and substance use for Vancouver Coastal Health, said the data would help staff decide what action needs to be taken to prevent fatal overdoses in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis.
The pilot project started Tuesday with an online web form and a texting service that can be used by people who have registered to receive alerts, said Young, who worked with substance users to create the alert process.
“We talked to people who are currently using substances and the feedback that we got was that we really needed to make this a simple system that could be used with a flip phone.”