Two students at White Station High School in Memphis, Tennessee, created the Memphis Overdose Prevention Chatbot (MOPbot) with the intention of providing a way to help communities reduce overdose rates and overcome the stigma surrounding counseling for drug addiction, reports Nedr Aloqili in the school’s student newspaper.
Senior Raymond Cui and junior Ashish Kalaga’s artificial intelligence chatbot provides
- overdose and emergency education,
- access to resources, and
- local overdose statistics
by sorting questions into different pathways.
The idea started four years ago, Ashish told the student paper, “when our friend’s mother passed away due to an opioid overdose. Since then, we’ve always had a soft spot in our hearts for people that go through these kinds of things. Now that we’re of age and able to take on this problem, we decided to create MOPbot.”
I tried MOPbot, asking a general question about what I should do if I encounter someone who has overdosed. It gave me an equally general response:
**Crisis & Safety** - If someone is in immediate danger or not breathing, **call 911 now**. - You can also call/text **988** for mental health support. - **TN REDLINE (1‑800‑889‑9789)** and **SAMHSA (1‑800‑662‑4357)** can connect you to local services. CALL 911 NOW. If opioids may be involved, give naloxone/Narcan immediately if you have it. If they are not breathing or are breathing very slowly, start rescue breathing if you know how. Put them on their side if possible. Stay with them until help arrives. Do not leave them alone.
So far so good. I then asked a follow-up question: “Why is it good to put someone who is overdosing on their side if possible?” The chatbot responded appropriately:
Putting them on their side helps keep their airway open and lowers the chance they choke if they vomit. If they are breathing but not fully awake: - roll them onto their side - keep their mouth clear - stay with them - keep checking their breathing If they are not breathing, or breathing very slowly, call 911 right away and give naloxone if you have it.
Although the chatbot may have some information specific to Tennessee, or even Memphis, the general advice is sound. When asked about Good Samaritan laws, which vary a little from state to state, it provided the Tennessee version of the law accurately but probably should have confirmed I was in Tennessee before replying.
“What I want to do in the future is driven by people,” Raymond said. “I want to be using my motivation to help people to create technology-driven solutions.”
Young Adults and Opioids
A major problem for young adults, who use the modern version of pagers and burner phones — social media or messaging apps with encrypted or disappearing messages — to buy pills like Xanax or Percocet, a prescription pain killer, is that the pills are frequently tainted with opioids like fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin.
A study from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that overdose deaths in the US among 15-to-24-year-olds rose from 4,652 to 6,723 (10.85 to 15.16 per 100,000) between 2018 and 2022, with a slight decrease between 2021 and 2022.
The largest increases were deaths involving synthetic opioids only (1.8 to 4.8 deaths per 100,000), which, in 2022, were 2.49 times higher among male youths compared with female youths and 2.15 times higher among those aged 20 to 24 years compared with those aged 15 to 19 years.
