An Andover electrician has found himself in the epicenter of the opioid crisis as a longtime client of his that serves the homeless had several patients a week overdosing in their public restrooms. So they asked him for help. The result? The health care clinic hasn’t had a bathroom overdose in months since the electrician’s restroom alarm system was installed.Telecommunications and electrical contractor John King, who owns A Plus Communications located in a restored Ballardvale mill on Andover Street, has worked for Boston Heath Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) for 20 years, he said.

Administrators there asked him to help them come up with a solution to the problem of addicts overdosing in their restrooms. King spent four months researching  and designing a restroom alarm that tips off administrators to potential overdoses.He eventually built a reverse motion detector that alerts the organization’s security staff if a restroom occupant has not moved in two minutes. The alarm goes off several times a week, alerting security that someone has collapsed and stopped moving in the restroom. Security then calls BHCHP’s clinical staff so they can administer Narcan to the patient.

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