The First State has launched a free app for iOS and Android showing people what to do in case of a drug overdose.
The OpiRescue Delaware app gives instructions in English and Spanish on how to administer Naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose. It also shows how to recognize an overdose, where in the area Naloxone can be purchased and is linked to helpisherede.com—Delaware’s site connecting people to treatment for substance abuse disorder.
Kate Brookins took the lead on this project. She is a Public Health Treatment Program Administrator in Delaware’s Division of Public Health.
“We really are not advising people to download the app as they come across an overdose victim, we would like them to have it installed and play around with it and educate themselves ahead of time,” said Brookins.
The app is also being used for data collection. Brookins says the ‘report a rescue’ feature gives the user the option to provide details about an overdose rescue to the state.
“There’s really not any mandatory question on that survey, and that information then gets generated and forwarded to us,” said Brookins. “It’s really non-identifiable data, so we will never know who reported the rescue.”
Brookins says Delaware’s app is based on one designed by a private vendor from Colorado and adapted for the First State at a cost of less than $100,000. She adds several other states have similar apps.
Brookins also says Delaware may add more features to the app in the future.
