Drug checking services provide people who use drugs with chemical analysis results of their drug samples while simultaneously monitoring the unregulated drug market. We sought to identify and synthesize literature on the following domains: (a) the influence of drug checking services on the behaviour of people who use drugs; (b) monitoring of drug markets by drug checking services; and (c) outcomes related to models of drug checking services.
Language: English
Drug checking services for people who use drugs: a systematic review
Brave YouTube Page
Several videos explaining the Brave overdose detection products, their community app, and clips from their annual Tech and Harm Reduction Symposium
XBrave YouTube Page
Q&A: SHNS Talks With SafeSpot’s Stephen Murray
SafeSpot is “the only truly government-funded overdose hotline in the U.S.,” Murray said, and fields calls not just from Massachusetts, but across the nation and Canada. As Massachusetts struggles with waves of opioid-related overdose deaths, Murray and SafeSpot are attempting to lower the death rate by providing support for people using drugs, based on the understanding that using drugs alone is the biggest risk factor for fatal overdoses.
Evaluating the Impact of Brave Technology Co-op’s Novel Drug Overdose Detection and Response Devices in North America: a Retrospective Study
Assess the preliminary impact of Brave Technology Co-op’s overdose detection devices that have been implemented in housing, medical, social service facilities, and several private settings in North America. Data analyzed provided insights on the number of overdoses detected and reversed (averted overdose deaths) using Brave Sensors and Buttons, along with other programmatic and session-specific indicators. Brave’s devices hold promise for increasing rates of overdose detection and preventing overdose deaths.
Virtual overdose monitoring services: a novel adjunctive harm reduction approach for addressing the overdose crisis
Virtual overdose monitoring services use digital technologies, such as smartphone applications or phone lines, to provide a variety of supports focused on harm reduction, such as overdose monitoring, harm reduction education, and referrals to health and social services. They can facilitate timely and anonymous access to emergency care for people who use substances.
Preference for hotline versus mobile application/countdown-based mobile overdose response services: a qualitative study
Since the emergence of mobile overdose response services (MORS), two strategies have aimed to help reduce the mortality associated with acute overdose including staffed hotline-based services and unstaffed timer-based services. In this article, we aim to gather the perspectives of various key interest groups on these technologies to determine which might best support service users.
Overall, participants noted that individuals who use substances vary in their desire for connection during a substance use session offered by hotline and timer-based service modalities. Participants perceived hotline-based approaches to be more reliable and thus potentially safer than their timer-based counterparts but noted that access to technology is a limitation of both approaches.
Overdose Detection Technologies to Reduce Solitary Overdose Deaths: A Literature Review
The goal of this narrative review is to describe recent global innovations in overdose detection technologies (ODT) enabling rapid responses to overdose events, especially for people who use drugs alone. We found that only a small number of technologies designed to assist in overdose detection and response are currently commercially available, though several are in the early stages of development. Research, development, and scale-up of practical, cost-effective ODTs remains a public health imperative.
