Bathroom Overdose Alert System

Prototype System Behind-the-Scenes

Inspiration

Overdoses in public bathrooms can occur in hospitals and in public places like libraries or restaurants. If someone is unconscious in a bathroom alone, it can take a long time before others realize and can help them by administering Narcan or contacting emergency personnel. If there is a system to alert medical personnel of when there is someone who has overdosed in a bathroom, this early intervention could save lives.

What it does

We implemented a system that quickly alerts medical personnel to help overdosed patients passed out in the bathroom. We used a light sensor and alert mechanism that determines if a person needs assistance in the bathroom. The bathroom has motion sensor lights which turn off after two minutes of no movement. Our device will sense the light intensity in the room and will send a warning signal if the light stays off for more than 15 seconds while the door is locked. Medical personnel will be alerted and will respond accordingly.

How We Built It

We used an Arduino Uno micro controller with a light and pressure sensor.

Challenges We Encountered

The force pressure sensor caused us a bit of trouble to calibrate. Due to some poor connections in the breadboard that took us a while to track down, it gave us erroneous readings. Eventually we tracked down and fixed the error.