If you’re heading to the washroom at the Guelph library's main branch downtown, an extra addition to the stall door could be the thing that saves your life one day.
BRAVE sensors, a product geared toward overdose detection, can now be found in adult washroom stalls in the Norfolk Street building.
“It actually reduces our workload (and) adds some peace of mind,” said Samantha Wellhauser-Bells, the GPL main branch’s supervisor.
She said at first, the sensor was going off all the time as it began to learn the space. But it has since calibrated itself to the environment and is working properly.
"What we were doing before was regular checks and now this takes away a little bit of that," she said.
“We still are checking washrooms because plumbing leaks or anything can happen, but it’s peace of mind because you know that something is going to alert you if there is an issue, and you can’t be everywhere at once.”
“The staff of the Guelph Public Library continue to live the promise of a library for everyone," added library board chair Danny Williamson in an emailed statement.
"The GPL Board strongly supports their work in providing library services that balance equity, dignity, safety, and security for every member of our community.”
Here is how it works: the sensor will activate when someone enters the washroom stall.
It will send a text message notice to a worker’s phone if one of two things happen.
The first is if someone has been in the washroom stall for more than 15 minutes, or if the sensor detects stillness of more than two minutes.
A worker has to respond via text message that they are going to check, and then send a second text message to indicate if everything is okay or not.
"We would just knock on the door, just a gentle knock, introduce who you are, we might say 'library staff' or your name," Wellhauser-Bells said.
"We also partner with the City of Guelph security, so they actually also get notifications on their phone for it. It's just kind of a quick chat of who you are and if you need anything."
The library got the idea for the sensor after taking a tour of Hope House in December.
The cost to install sensors in all the washrooms was $2,000. Each sensor will also cost $500 a year. The money to install the sensors was covered by the library’s maintenance budget.
Peace of mind for something that does detection for more than just overdoses.
“It’s also for medical distress of other kinds, heart attacks and strokes, and things like that,” said Dan Atkins, the library’s acting CEO.
“It also identifies us to those types of medical crisis that may arise. It’s been a real hit with staff because it’s just one more tool in their toolbox.”
He said it has already helped with one person who was in distress.
“We were able to get to them early, and phone EMS,” he said. “They arrived, and took care of the person and got them taken care of at the hospital.
“It’s already saved a life.”
