First Responder Burgenland
An Android app that helps volunteer paramedics in rural Burgenland get from alert to emergency scene faster and more safely.
Imagine being a first responder – a paramedic who voluntarily responds to nearby emergencies when off-duty – in Burgenland, Austria. After being alerted via SMS you need to call dispatch and confirm that you can respond. Now it’s time to find the scene of the emergency: open that SMS again, memorize the address, switch to your maps app, enter the address and hope that you get an accurate route. Especially in rural areas, many map applications have incomplete and inconsistent data. While you’re trying to get a route, the dispatcher interrupts you with an update on the patient’s changed condition. That adds to your stress level. When you finally get a route, you can start driving.
First Responder Burgenland is an Android application that helps volunteer paramedics focus on what matters most. After an emergency notification arrives via SMS, the scene is displayed on a map and an alarm sounds. With a single tap you are on the phone with dispatch, and another tap starts navigation to the scene.
The problem of incomplete and inconsistent map data in rural areas is solved by obtaining coordinates for the scene from several data sources and picking the result with the highest accuracy.
First Responder Burgenland allows for faster and safer first aid, and thus benefits both patients and paramedics. The app was in use from 2012 to 2017 in Burgenland, Austria.