The Lifeguard app was launched by BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) back in May 2020 with the goal of saving lives.
Chief Operating Officer Neil Lilley said the app has saved 27 people who were overdosing on drugs in that time span (45 if you include the beta testing period that started two years before that).
“The app is really there to try and save people’s lives who may be experiencing a drug overdose alone.”
“The app itself is able to connect us direct to the location of the person who has used substances, and may be unconscious or unrousable at the time, and we are able to dispatch paramedics straight to the scene and hopefully save their life,” added Lilley.
As of May of this year, there are 8,989 users of the app, and 102,538 sessions.
Lilley noted that the app isn’t just for people who use drugs, and said that people who may have friends or family who use drugs could find the information on the app valuable.
The BCEHS has been keeping track of overdose calls across BC since 2016, with the latest numbers tracking the calls for 2021:
- 100 Mile House had 31 calls.
- Vanderhoof had 15 calls.
- Prince George had 1,305 calls.
- Williams Lake had 117 calls.
- Burns Lake had 18 calls.
- Quesnel had 157 calls.