Firefighters in Surrey, B.C., have turned to technology in the battle against opioid overdoses.
The fire department has partnered with Vancouver-based software developer GINQO to create a program that mines data from dispatch calls in real-time to identify clusters of overdoses.
Those clusters can be a sign that a batch of tainted drugs is circulating on the streets and the program can alert first responders to a potentially escalating situation.
The software kicks in automatically when data from emergency calls corresponds with specific criteria, such as more than three overdoses within one square kilometre in a four-hour period.
The Surrey Fire Service started using the program late last June and has since received 10 alerts about overdose clusters.
Fire Chief Len Garis says when the department gets an alert, they can make sure they have the resources available to respond properly.