Why Brave Became RapidSOS Ready: Expediting Overdose Response to Save Lives

Authored by Gordon Casey, Founder of Brave Technology Coop

Gordon is the founder of Brave and came to this work seeking ways in which technology can be leveraged for radical kindness in moments of urgent need. He has a background in law, finance and entrepreneurship and is currently doing the most fulfilling work of his life. 

Who is Brave? 

93,000 Americans died of accidental overdose in 2020 – every single one of those was reversible if someone had gotten to them in time. Brave is a cooperative building technology tools that detect overdoses as they are happening. After over 4 years of deep community engagement with individuals at risk of overdose, their supporters, and individuals who reverse overdose, Brave has built 3 tools (and has more coming) that ensure that if you overdose, help is on the way.

What is the Brave and RapidSOS solution? 

The Brave app pairs people who are using drugs, anonymously, with a remote ‘spotter,’ a safety buddy who will stay with them via the app while they use. If that remote spotter determines the caller has overdosed, they can immediately send 911 help via the Brave app. Because the app is connected to RapidSOS, in an emergency, the caller can receive help from the closest Emergency Communications Center based on their location. 

Rescue Plans can be set up by the caller within the Brave app and include critical information needed for rescue that is only released to the Brave app Supporter in an emergency.

Why did Brave become RapidSOS Ready? 

Overdose is unique in that if we know it’s happening, we just need to get there in time with the right tools (Naloxone) to prevent the victim from dying. Brave is all about detecting overdose and RapidSOS is all about getting 911 response on the scene as quickly as possible and equipping first responders with the critical information needed to provide the appropriate care. Our volunteers are based across North America and are supporting callers from all across the US – we need to connect them to the right Emergency Communications Center in seconds and we want the most appropriate response to be sent immediately. Partnering with RapidSOS means we don’t have to explain who we are every time we interact with 911 or what is going on, because that information is automatically delivered to the 911 dispatcher through the RapidSOS Platform. It means we can get overdose response to the caller as quickly as possible and ultimately help save lives. 

RapidSOS is integrated within the Brave app. By clicking Confirm, the Brave Supporter is able to make a 3-way call with the victim and 911.

What is Brave looking forward to in this partnership?

Brave is expanding our offerings, our geographic reach, and our integrations. As we do so, we look forward to building RapidSOS into our sensor tools, our IoT buttons, and even wearables to better protect our users and send help to the scene faster. Unfortunately, the overdose crisis is growing internationally – we have a unique opportunity to reach some of these locations before the worst hits, and we know that RapidSOS can help us drive forward our mission. 

To learn more about sending your life-saving data to first responders through the RapidSOS Platform, talk to an expert today.