Mobile-based Social Platform for Emergency Response Coordination

Noha Mostafa

1,2 a

, Abdalla Ashraf

and Amr Eltawil

Mechanical Engineering Department, The British University in Egypt 11837, Cairo, Egypt

Industrial Engineering Department, Zagazig University 44519, Sharkia, Egypt

Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability, The American University in Cairo, Egypt

Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Egypt

Keywords: On-demand Healthcare, Design Thinking, Mobile Applications, Emergency Response.

Abstract: The number of mortalities coming into the emergency room is still very high. While it is evident that the

sooner professional medical assistance is provided the higher chances of survival, emergency response

systems are yet to be improved and widely implemented to produce a significant impact. Mobile

Applications are an important instrument to improve such a service. Mobile health (or ‘mhealth’) refers to

healthcare and medical information that is supported by mobile technology. In 2015, approximately 80% of

physicians used mobile devices and medical apps and 25% applied them to provide patient care. This study

seeks implementing a design thinking approach to connect growing logistics and healthcare startups through

an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) application and platform to provide a more efficient,

effective and responsive emergency care through the coordination between emergency responders and the

victim or rescuer at the point of incidence.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6410-3848

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4451-6717

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6073-8240

1 INTRODUCTION

An emergency is a situation that impacts the lives or

well-being of one or more person and requires

substantial assistance (WHO, 2017). Effective

emergency response management is dependent on

the timely and effective delivery of information to

those who need it. Whether the emergency is due to

natural causes or man-made causes, a primary

challenge in responding to the emergency is

‘Communication’ (Manoj and Baker, 2007). The

types of information needed to support emergency

response management cover wide-ranging areas

such as disaster sensing and alerts, damage

assessments, logistical and supply chain

coordination, emergency medical support, and

search and rescue. Communication channels involve

citizens, government and public safety officials,

relief workers, and private sector organizations.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

provides essential tools to support the diverse

communication requirements between these diverse

stakeholders (ITU, 2017).

In 2013, the ITU-BDT launched the Smart

Sustainable Development Model (SSDM) Initiative

to help create a framework for optimizing the use of

ICT resources for both development (ICT4D) and

disaster management (ICT4DM). The intention is

that a dual ICT4D and ICT4DM approach may be

efficient, cost-effective, and timely in the utilization

of scarce resources during a crisis (ITU, 2020).

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

(Industry 4.0), information technology has become a

crucial part of the dynamic life of every human

being in the world, and the usage of smart phones is

rising exponentially. Elderly people who are unable

to provide accurate information and utilize the

emergency phone calls, users who find themselves

in an unknown location that can’t be described or

unable to provide an accurate address when an

emergency occurs, casualties caused by the late

arrival of ambulance and searching for an available

nearby ambulance have been some of the hustling

factors faced by current fast paced society. With

more congested roads and insufficient information,

Mostafa, N., Ashraf, A. and Eltawil, A.

Mobile-based Social Platform for Emergency Response Coordination.

DOI: 10.5220/0010712900003062

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Innovative Intelligent Industrial Production and Logistics (IN4PL 2021), pages 163-167

ISBN: 978-989-758-535-7

163

search and rescue operations have become extremely

challenging (Sakriya and Samual, 2016).

According to the WHO estimates, more people

die due to the lack of timely emergency care than

AIDS, TB and malaria combined. Billions of people

lack access to reliable emergency response during

medical emergencies (WHO, 2019). During an

emergency, every second counts, lack of access to

proper emergency care could be the difference

between life and death.

In this study, a design thinking approach is

implemented to develop an ICT application and

platform to connect growing logistics and healthcare

startups in order to provide a more efficient,

effective and responsive emergency care service.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

On-demand healthcare is a recent approach that uses

ICT to connect patients with available healthcare

providers through websites or mobile applications in

real-time. The idea started since the 2000s but it was

mostly based on simulation models and algorithms

with low usage of technology (Brailsford et al.,

2004; Laganga.et al., 2007). The 2010s witnessed

the rise of smartphones and that has triggered a

major change in consumers’ behavior driven by

brands like Uber™ and Yodawy™. Over the recent

past years, an increasing number of works has

addressed the development of ICT in several

applications including healthcare. Studies show that

integrating smart phones as a self-management tool

in outpatient clinics is acceptable and suitable to the

patients (Pavliscsak et al., 2016; Ong et al., 2016).

Chowdhary et al. (2016) proposed a software

architecture framework that simplifies using

analytics in mobile-healthcare applications.

One of the major challenges in healthcare is the

shortage of medical care workers. According to The

World Health Organization (WHO), in 2013 there

was a global shortage of 17.4 million physicians,

nurses, and other health professionals (WHO, 2016).

It is estimated that by 2035, the shortage will be 12.9

million (WHO, 2013). The situation is worse in

developing countries due to large population and the

limited capacity of medical schools in these countries.

Hence, with a national shortage of primary care

physicians and specialists, the waiting times at

hospital Emergency Rooms (ERs) are getting longer,

that is why on-demand healthcare is a welcomed

addition to the marketplace. Some independent

companies emerged recently, such as Doctor on

Demand, a video conferencing telehealth model, and

Heal, a house call archetype. Cleveland Clinic offers

Express Care in which adult patients can see a

virtual provider for non-emergency conditions.

Concierge practices, where patients pay a

membership fee for more access to a healthcare

provider, are also offering on-demand healthcare

(CardinalHealth, 2018). A good example on

emergency applications is VMEDO, a healthcare

application that connects to Nearest Ambulance,

hospital and blood donors during Medical

Emergencies (VMEDO, 2016).

Oberoi et al. (2016) compared different software

applications developed over time in the area of

healthcare; they argued that most of the developed

applications lack the applicability, especially in

developing countries due to the poor infrastructure

and the high cost. Various approaches were used in

the studies on smart healthcare applications but to

improve the applicability and the user experience,

user-centered methods should be adopted to design

applications that comply with users’ needs and

desires. In this work, this gap is addressed by

choosing ‘Design Thinking’ as our methodology.

3 METHODOLOGY

Although the term “design” is commonly associated

with products’ quality and/or aesthetic appearance,

the main goal of design as a discipline is to promote

the well-being in people’s lives. Nonetheless, it is the

way that designers perceive things and act upon them.

Design has attracted the attention of management,

opening new paths to business innovation.

Design Thinking is a human-centered approach

that refers to how the designer thinks; drawing on a

style of reasoning that is hardly conventional in the

business world, known as abductive thinking. In

abductive reasoning, the solution does not derive

from the problem: it patterns itself after the problem

(Brown, 2008; Vianna et al., 2013). Figure 1

illustrates the design thinking methodology.

Figure 1: The design thinking Process.

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Few studies have used design thinking as a

solution approach in healthcare; Watkins et al.

(2014) have used a design thinking qualitative

approach for healthcare services in Zambia. Cheung

(2015) used design thinking to design a product to

be used in operating rooms in Hong Kong. Carroll

and Richardson (2016) argued that design thinking

principles are desirable to establish a connected

healthcare framework. Hopkins et al. (2016)

investigated opportunities of using brainstorming

and prototyping to build a health follow-up platform.

Hsueh et al. (2016) have implemented a platform to

support patients before, during, and after medical

encounter. Heshmat et al. (2017) have implemented

design thinking approach to address the design

problems for patients and clinic staffs at outpatient

clinics in Egypt.

4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Our design thinking approach involves gathering

information about real end-user issues,

understanding their journey, and proposing tangible

solutions. The process is divided into five stages:

Immersion, Analysis and Synthesis, Ideation,

Prototyping and Implementation.

The first stage of the Design Thinking process is

called Immersion. At this moment, the project team

approaches the context of the problem from the

point of view of not only the user but also that of the

involved stakeholders. This stage begins with a

reframing process in which the project team meets

the potential platform users, through individual

interviews and focus group dynamics, to look at the

problem from other perspectives and define project

boundaries. The team, moreover, will conduct a

survey in the field to hear about the subject so it can

arrive at an initial understanding of the users and

stakeholders enmeshed in the context and help to

define the key profiles to be looked at next. The team

also undertakes desk research to discover trends on

the subject on both a national and global level.

The next step is to analyze the data collected

through field and desk research we started to analyze

and categorize how the user will engage with the

platform. A user journey map was developed to

describe different situations where the application

can come in handy. Figure 2 shows the developed

user journey map.

Figure 2: User Journey Map.

Mobile-based Social Platform for Emergency Response Coordination

165

We have set these initial situations to deal with.

 Bleeding - Someone is injured and the

bleeding is not stopping.

 Breathing difficulties - Someone is having

problems in breathing – for example, having

an asthma attack or an allergic reaction to

something, this is known as anaphylaxis.

 Someone collapses.

 Fit and/or epileptic seizure.

 Severe pain.

Brainstorming comes next as the third step in

design thinking which is ‘Ideation’. After several

thoughts and ideas we decided to create a

matchmaking platform between the stakeholders and

the user (Emergency Case). The idea is to “uberize”

the delivery of emergency health care services by

partnering Medical Personnel (clinics, hospitals, and

freelance certified first aid providers) using a

running logistics platform like Uber™, Careem™,

Halan™ and Yodawy™. This is also to provide a

platform where Pharmaceutical Companies can

efficiently spend their Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) and marketing budget by

providing promo codes to use the emergency care

service.

The stakeholders are:

- Professional Medical Service Providers

(Clinics, Hospitals)

- Freelance Medical Personnel (Certified First

Aid Providers)

- Pharmaceutical Companies ( Marketing and

CSR)

- Logistics Application ( Ride Hailing and

Delivery Applications)

The application offers users in need of

emergency services for themselves (if possible) or

their network to detect their symptoms and request a

freelance first aid provider to arrive on scene to

support them. This service is not meant to diagnose

or treat the cases but merely to supervise the case

and prevent them from causing medical

complications and medical misconduct until the case

is delivered to medical professionals. The

application also offers an opportunity to connect

with mobility solutions such as Uber and Careem

that are equipped with first aid kits through some

partnerships. It also provides the nearest hospital and

clinic that is available to receive the case based on

their choice of medical care service.

Fresh graduates from medical backgrounds get

trained, equipped and certified. They then get signed

exclusively to our platform where cases can request

their assistance. Careem, Uber and Halan will be

equipped with first aid kits through our service.

Yodawy will receive medication orders once our

care provider is at the scene. The call for an

emergency will include location, needed supplies (if

any) and indicators or symptoms.

One of our main revenue streams is from

Pharmaceutical companies to give away promotional

codes where customers get incentives to use this

service.

5 CONCLUSIONS

In this study, a Design Thinking approach is used to

develop a mobile application for On-demand

healthcare and respond to emergency situations. The

proposed platform connects cases in need of

emergency care with well-trained health care

providers as well as emergency equipment and first

aid kits holders. Trained fresh graduates from

medical backgrounds register on the system. They

then get signed exclusively to the proposed platform

where cases can request their assistance. Ride

hailing providers, such as Careem, Uber and Halan

will be equipped with first aid kits and small

emergency response equipment and supplies through

our service. The call for an emergency will include

location, needed supplies (if any) and indicators or

symptoms. The system will optimally designate

nearby emergency responders and equipment

holders and direct them to the victim, meanwhile

notifying Ambulance service for further assistance.

For future work, operations research models can

be used to make optimal assignment for emergency

cases to healthcare providers. Another

recommendation is to use an Internet bot to gather

information for the emergency case where it can be

easily reported to the medical personnel. It is also

suggested to include a social platform where people

can raise awareness to health related issues under the

supervision of medical professionals.

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