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Overdose prevention device saved 29 lives in B.C. in last year, maker says

LifeguardLite allows supportive housing residents to notify staff and 911 if drug ingestion goes wrong
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A LifeGuard Lite device is seen mounted on a wall. The instrument is intended to help prevent fatal overdoses in supportive housing sites by notifying staff and 911 dispatchers if a resident doesn’t indicate that they are okay within one minute of ingesting a drug. The company behind the device, LifeGuard Digital Health, says it saved 29 lives in B.C. between April 2023 and March 24, 2024. (Photo courtesy of LifeGuard Digital Health)

The company behind an overdose prevention device designed for supportive housing sites says the tool has saved 29 lives in B.C. in the past year.

Fixed to a wall inside people’s rooms, the LifeguardLite works by giving residents who use drugs a one-minute window to ingest a substance and indicate that they are feeling okay. If they fail to hit the thumbs-up button on the device within that time, it automatically sends a notification to housing staff and 911 dispatchers that the resident needs help.

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About the Author: Jane Skrypnek

I'm a provincial reporter for Black Press Media after starting as a community reporter in Greater Victoria.
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