RED CROSS AND JWT CREATE RAPID RESPONSE APP FOR SINGAPORE
In a medical emergency, every second before receiving help can be vital. What if someone could get to you before the emergency services arrive?
JWT Singapore and the Singapore Red Cross Society have created “Rapid Rescue” – an app that could actually save someone’s life.
Using location-based software, it enables anyone in a medical emergency to send out an SOS alert within a two-kilometre radius. After a volunteer accepts the mission, the app will map out the shortest route to the person in distress and lets the patient know that help is on its way.
Rapid Rescue also allows anyone with the app installed on their smartphone to call an ambulance and in the event that there are no first-aiders in the vicinity, it maps out the nearest hospitals.
Individuals who've been certified by the Red Cross can register as Rapid Rescue volunteers.
The app aims to harness Singapore’s 12,000 trained first-aiders who could potentially offer assistance within seconds in an emergency situation. Until now, there has not been a way to capitalise on this resource.
"It can take an ambulance some time to respond in certain situations. What if help was just around the corner in the form of a trained first-aider?” says Jun Fukawa, Chief Creative Officer at JWT Singapore. “This app could make the difference between life and death for victims who are in an emergency.
"We're extremely excited to partner with the Red Cross on this project. It's a great example of how smart phone technology and location-based software can be used to help aid organisations deliver assistance when - and where - it's needed the most."
The pro bono project was launched to coincide with an event to commemorate World Red Cross Day, where Rapid Rescue was demonstrated by Tee Tua Ba, the Chairman of Singapore Red Cross, and Halimah Yacob, Singapore's Minister of State for Community, Youth and Sports through a live simulation.
To put this app into action, a team of Red Cross volunteers on bikes, who patrol Singapore's busy East Coast park on weekends, used the app to find and render assistance to a 'victim' who took part in the demonstration.
"With Rapid Rescue app, we can deliver first aid even faster to the community. This can make a difference between life and death for victims in an emergency," says Tee Tua Ba.
Currently, the app is only available for Singapore on the iPhone, but JWT and the Red Cross plan to extend it to other countries. JWT also plans to create an Android version of the app too.
Singapore has the highest smartphone penetration in the world.
Do you think this idea can work in other cities around the globe?
