Smartphone Apps that can help in a crisis and provide support when disaster strikes

It’s been a while since my last post, not least since I had a proper look at mobile technology and the latest news from the world of mobile apps. The revolution in app development emerging from  African-based technology hubs that has been gathering pace in the last two years shows no signs of slowing down, particularly in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, with some reports suggesting that certain ventures are now turning a profit, proving that app dev’  in those countries may be getting the recognition it deserves.

What has also caught my attention recently is the upsurge in practical ‘support’ apps, particularly those that aim to provide help and assistance in a crisis situation or natural disaster. In keeping with the tone and subjects of my previous posts, I’ve decided to focus this one on this area of mobile application development, where smartphone devs’ are really pushing to provide genuinely valuable tools to users in vulnerable crisis situations, and putting useful applications in the hands of rescue teams and support workers, that can be applied in the field to enable them to respond more rapidly to those affected by disaster.

Smartphones that help in the search for avalanche victims

Smartphones with built-in transceivers which broadcast a user’s position in the event of an avalanche are nothing new, but up until recently they were prohibitively expensive for anyone but the truly hard-core winter sports gurus and adventurers (with a big budget  for survival equipment to match).

A recent article on the Technology.org website reported on the development work by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML in Prien, thanks to which there could soon be a much cheaper solution to the current technology utilised in avalanche transceivers. The new system takes full advantage of satellite navigation and GPS tracking, as an additional extra to the currently-used technology. The solution can draw upon the combined signals from US, European and Russian satellite systems in addition to its traditional transmitting capabilities, and this combination provides a much more accurate indicator of an individual’s location, thus saving precious time in locating the victim.

As Holger Schultz, a scientist at Fraunhofer IML explains in the article:-

“…Like commonly available avalanche transceivers, the Galileo-LawinenFon has a transmit and search mode. Unlike previous transceivers however, when looking for victims the system is not restricted to the electromagnetic field formed by a transmitted signal but makes use of satellite signals as well. Since our solution draws on numerous available sensors and satellite systems, the signals transmitted by victims can be located with a great deal of precision. Magnetic field signals are processed in 3D so that we can pinpoint accident victims in a matter of seconds and improve their chances of survival…”

Read the full article at: http://www.technology.org/2014/02/07/smartphones-help-find-avalanche-victims/

Red Cross app that can help when hurricanes strike

The International Red Cross has developed a number of disaster-related self-help applications to support users in a range of crisis situations. In a recent review in the iMedicalApps.com website, they focused on a new app product produced by the Red Cross that provides essential tools and information for potential victims of hurricanes and those who have already suffered from them.

According to the article, the app can provide ‘…real-time alerts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). From the main screen (under Prepare) you are able to access a menu for basic recommendations and a checklist on what to do before, during, and after a hurricane, in addition to planning preparations…’. There is also amongst other clever features a very useful ‘Toolkit’ tab, which ‘…includes common emergency resources needed in an acute emergency setting: flashlight, strobe light, alarm, plan preparation, an option to switch to the Red Cross First Aid App, and another access point to the I’m Safe feature…’

To read the full review of the app, visit the iMedicalApps site at: http://www.imedicalapps.com/2014/01/red-cross-mobile-apps-public-health/

SAMHSA Smartphone App to support responders to disasters

The US-based Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently launched a smartphone App, across all major platforms, to cater for the needs of health professionals specialising in psychological and behavioural responses to disaster situations.

As reported in the Psychiatric News website, the app includes resources covering psychological first-aid information, suicide prevention, disaster mental health and self-care. The application also provides search facilities to locate behavioural health services nearby, post deployment guides, and automatically downloads updated content on start-up.

As quoted in the article, technical expert John Luo M.D., a clinical professor of psychiatry from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explains: ‘…It has simple but effective tips to help address problem-solving with survivors, as well as key reminders for supervisors…’

For more information on the app, visit the SAMHSA website at: http://store.samhsa.gov/apps/disaster/

From smart cards to solar shelters: technology to support Syrian refugees

Happy new year to all, this being my first post of 2014. Hopefully those who took a break in December had a good one, and are feeling suitably refreshed to start the new year with renewed enthusiasm. Christmas in my part of the world – south-east England, to be specific – was a bit different this year. Thanks to the series of very severe storms (by British standards, I hasten to add!) and heavy rain that lashed many parts of Britain just before the ‘big day’, by the 25^th of December we were on our third day-long power cut, with no heat or light, a leaking roof, and some other minor storm damage to add to our woes.

Once the children had unwrapped their presents in semi-darkness and it was clear we were not going to have any power until the 26^th, we realised it was time to seek shelter elsewhere, falling on the sympathy of friends and family for a few days until we could return home to clean up and switch the lights back on. A Christmas to forget you might say, but in many ways we were the lucky ones; forty houses not half a mile from where we live had to be evacuated, as rivers burst their banks and flooded homes and businesses; a far more miserable prospect than losing all the refrigerated food to a three-day power cut. The whole experience was difficult, uncomfortable, at times damp and cold, but mercifully short term; – disappointed as the family was, we could get in the car and drive off somewhere warm and welcoming, and return when things were back to normal again.

As one does in these situations once the initial irritation has passed, you try to look for some positives, and perhaps consider the many people around the world in a far worse state than yourself. An obvious point, but it didn’t take a lot of thought to conclude that the temporary interruption to normal life I had just experienced gave me no idea, whatsoever, of what it’s like to be truly displaced. For the millions of refugees around the world, who cannot return to their homes like I could after a couple of inconvenient days on the road, and who instead wake up one morning to find their lives shattered by conflict or natural disaster, with some having lost loved ones in the process, I have the utmost respect.

Bearing these sobering thoughts in mind, and keeping with the key ‘how tech can help…’ theme of this blog, I’ve decided to usher in 2014 by focusing on some clever applications of technology being used to try to help those displaced by the civil war in Syria, who perhaps as recently as the start of 2013 had their own homes and normal lives, and who now have little or no idea of when they will be able to return.

Specialist SIM cards and Electronic Food Vouchers for Refugees

Two schemes utilising smart/SIM card technology are covered in an article in the UN-backed Integrated Regional Information Networks website.

The first looks at a UNHCR-run programme to produce specially designed mobile SIM cards, which are planned for distribution amongst inhabitants of the main refugee centres in Jordan, including Al Zaatari camp, home to over 120,000 people. The custom designed cards allow users to receive mass information messages, as well as make free calls to the UNHCR information line. According to the article, the SIM cards will not expire, even if no credit is added to the account.

The second scheme is being run by the World Food Programme in Turkey, in conjunction with the Turkish Red Crescent Society. This is an electronic food voucher scheme, providing refugees with electronic cards loaded with ‘credit’, with which they can purchase their own goods at local stores. As the article suggests, there appear to be many potential benefits to the scheme, such as reducing the need to manage large-scale food provision and eliminating the black marketization of ‘free food items’. Arguably, the scheme also restores a bit of normality and dignity to those it aims to help, as they have a degree of choice in the items they can buy, rather than relying on the traditional approach of whatever can be sought via mass food distribution.

The full article can be found here: http://www.irinnews.org/report/99127/syrian-aid-in-the-tech-age

‘Flat-Packed’ Solar Shelters

When we consider ‘flat-packed’ as a retail concept, the first brand most of us think of is the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, who are best known for producing and selling affordable, easy-to-assemble flat-packed furniture, in a multitude of countries across the globe.

Early in 2013, as reported in an article in the Renewable Energy World website in November, the company announced plans to help the cause of refugees by developing solar-powered shelters. Known as ‘Refugee Housing Units (RHUs)’, the shelters have already been deployed to areas in Ethiopia and Syria, providing a more stable and secure shelter with the addition of power than existing tented solutions. Utilising USB ports to provide charging points for devices such as mobile phones, the shelters stick to Ikea’s tried and tested philosophy of easy-assembly, using a steel frame and plastic panels as the basic structure.

As the article explains:

‘…The new shelter also offers more insulation than the tents can, as well as more privacy for those living in them. The ability to use the solar panel to power a light at night or electronic devices can help the refugees live a better life, so children can read at night or adults can cook food more easily…’.

With reference to the practicalities of the long-term cost-effectiveness of the solution, the article continues:

‘…The shelters are still in prototype stages and cost about $7,000, but according to a Spiegel article earlier this month, “once they go into large-scale production, designers are aiming for a price of $1,000.” Thus far, the Ikea Foundation has donated about $4.8 million to the project…’.

The full article can be found at: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/11/ikea-shipping-flat-packed-solar-powered-shelters-to-refugees