Interior Health has launched a new health alert system that will send out texts whenever there’s a toxic drug alert.
“Across the province – in every community – we continue to see tragic deaths due to the toxic drug supply. The new alert system is an example of innovation and community collaboration to save lives in this crisis,” said Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Sheila Malcolmson in a release.
The goal is to prevent drug poisonings and deaths and provide timely information and up-to-date resources to people who use drugs.
“We are thrilled to have this new tool available in the Interior to support people and to get information out immediately to those who need it most,” said Interior Health president and CEO, Susan Brown in a release.
“As the number of lives lost continues to grow, we are focused on removing barriers to supports, and implementing new strategies to prevent drug poisonings and deaths and mitigate harm from the toxic drug supply.”
You can opt-in for the alerts by sending the keyword JOIN to ALERTS (253787).
Interior Health is the first health authority to implement the alert system.
It’s expected to be expanded to other authorities later this summer.