Canadian mHealth App Takes Aim at Preventing Deadly Drug Overdoses
A healthcare provider in Ontario is testing out an mHealth app that allows the user to activate an alarm after taking a drug, with the app automatically notifying emergency officials if the alarm isn't turned off.
Source: ThinkStock
By - Healthcare providers in Canada are testing out a unique mHealth app designed to reduce overdose deaths among active drug users.
NorWest Community Health Centres in northwestern Ontario will be the first provider in Canada’s most populous province to pilot the Lifeguard app. Developed by Lifeguard Digital Health, the app is activated by the user before he or she uses a drug, and includes an alarm that grows louder from one to five minutes after activation. If the user fails to cut off the alarm, a text-to-voice call is sent to emergency medical dispatchers advising them of a potential overdose.
The connected health service takes aim at an issue that killed more than 2,000 people in Ontario in 2020, an increase of almost 60 percent over the previous year. The Ontario roll-out, coordinated by the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board, is funded in part by a one-time grant from Ontario’s Ministry of Health through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
