Between 2005 and 2014, 1.7 billion people have been affected by natural disasters and 0.7 million people have been killed in these events. 70% of these deaths are caused by earthquakes and tsunamis.Even with the high quality data that organisations such as USGS provide, it is extremely challenging to predict and mitigate earthquakes and any delay can mean the difference between endangered lives and safety.
Epik empowers everyday heroes as an accessible emergency prep kit(device accompanied by an app) that allowsindividuals to engage in a 3-step process of Relay & Receive, Request and Respond. Combining crowdsourced information with official data, epik aids in the communication of potential disaster. Not only does epik inform those of danger, it also allows the injured to call for help meanwhile enabling nearby first responders to assist and support the pressure placed upon emergency services.
When Hurricane Sandy hit New York City, a member of our team rushed out to help and as a first responder, immediately recognised the challenge of their disaster relief efforts. Knocking on every door often proved fruitful but in cases where homes were empty, assistance could have been redirected elsewhere. This was even more evident when she came upon a family of six without food for four days and the area was without emergency services support for three days.
Epik’sminimal design aids in accessibility with its small size and low energy requirements powered by watch batteries, kinetic or solar energy. The devices communicate through cellphone networks or low energy bluetooth relays deployed ahead of time to at-riskzones.
The data collected is made available by our API to the companion app and to emergency services that are integrated into the platform. Using the companion app, anyone can become a first responder and answer a request for help.
See notes for a list of references and our presentation here.
Team ep!k
@epikheroes
@doc References
Internal:
Code, API and demo - github.com/coolsebz/epik-heroes
As a first responder for Hurricane Sandy, response time was vital when I went in search of those requiring immediate assistance and found it challenging to locate the most at-risk as emergency services hadn’t arrived for 3 days.
-1st responder experience
-Took 3 days to find family, they haven’t eaten in 4 days
Latest Version: 12:39pm 4th May @doc
Project description (On website) @doc
@doc References