Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Jason Luan (Government of Alberta)

By Justin Goulet/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Province to test new overdose prevention mobile app

Mar 23, 2021 | 12:13 PM

CALGARY, AB – The Government of Alberta will be testing a new mobile app to help protect people using opioids and other substances while alone in their homes.

The app is known as the Digital Overdose Response System, a.k.a. DORS.

Albertans using substances by themselves can use DORS, which will trigger a call from the STARS emergency centre if the individual becomes unresponsive to a timer. Emergency crews will be sent to their location in the event of a presumed overdose.

The app will also provide information about recovery-oriented supports and services available in the user’s area.

“We know that most people who fatally overdose in Alberta, do so in a private home. Among the first of its kind in Canada, the DORS app will help prevent opioid and other substance-related deaths by those using alone at home,” said Jason Luan, Alberta’s associate minister of mental health and addictions.

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“Launching this app is another important step in building a full recovery-oriented continuum of care for addiction treatment in the province.”

Testing of the system will start this summer in Calgary, and it’s expected that it will then be expanded to other communities next year following the initial testing phase.

Alberta substance use surveillance data has shown that COVID-19 continues to have a serious impact on those struggling with addiction. Last year, 1,128 people died in the province from an opioid overdose.

“EMS is proud to have been an adviser in the development of this application. People who use drugs at home are a hard-to-reach segment of the population. We have unfortunately had many fatal overdoses in private homes in suburban areas,” said Curtis Swanson, director of Clinical Operations, Calgary Zone EMS, Alberta Health Services.

“This new technology will connect those individuals with emergency services, as well as treatment and recovery services to assist them in taking the steps towards long-term recovery.”

The Alberta government said that in 2020, 70 per cent of overdose deaths in the province happened in private residences.

From 2018 to 2020, 60 to 80 per cent of opioid-related fatalities in Calgary and Edmonton occurred in suburban neighborhoods outside of the downtown core. More than half of all opioid-related EMS calls are made outside of the downtown core, according to the provincial government.

“Often times when emergency services respond to a drug-related call at a private home, it is too late. The DORS app will change that by giving us the ability to get to people sooner. We are pleased to be the emergency response partner in this new app so that emergency services can play a role in keeping Albertans alive,” said Andrea Robertson, president and CEO of STARS Air Ambulance.

The province noted that the DORS app is one of many reduction measures that receives funding from the Government of Alberta. This includes supervised consumption and overdose prevention services, as well as the Opioid Agonist Therapy Gap Coverage program and the Virtual Opioid Dependency program, which currently has no wait list.

Additionally, naloxone kits are available for free at many locations across the province. Naloxone can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose if administered right away.

The budget for the new DORS app testing phase is $325,000, which will also support the development of the app itself.

The province said ongoing operational costs will be informed by the test phase and finalized as the app is expanded across Alberta next year.