In Bangladesh, there are no emergency medical services (like 911), and as a result more than 82% of critically injured people die before they reach a hospital. Children and vulnerable populations such as those living or working in the streets (rickshaw-pullers, informal laborers, food vendors, etc.) are disproportionally affected. CriticaLink trains local volunteers as emergency First Responders and uses mobile technology to help them respond quickly so they can save lives in their community.
Every year, road accidents, occupational injuries, and mass disasters cause tens of thousands of people to lose their lives in Bangladesh. In many cases, these lives can be saved, but a lack of rapid, emergency medical services mean 82% of critical injured people die on the street before they get help. CriticaLink is saving these lives by providing rapid, location-based emergency response using trained volunteers. It works like Uber, but instead of getting a car, people are coming to save a life
First Responders are the key to saving lives by providing basic medical care in the first few minutes following an emergency. CriticaLink trains community volunteers, police officers, medical students, and doctors in these basic emergency medical skills and provides them with the knowledge and tools to save lives. In order to get First Responders to victims quickly, CriticaLink has developed a mobile platform using SMS and a mobile app to dispatch the closest volunteers to the accident scene.
Worldwide 6 million people die every year from injuries and accidents (more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, & TB), over 90% occuring in countries without access to Emergency Medical Services. Using mobile technology that is available everywhere in the world, CriticaLink has created a high-impact, low-cost model to provide emergency response that can be replicated anywhere. We believe that access to basic emergency medical care is a fundamental human right, and no person should die of treatable injuries.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
