WO2014096920A1

WO2014096920A1 - Method for notifying, alarming and offering help through a mobile phone and/or web interface

Info

Publication number: WO2014096920A1
Application number: PCT/IB2013/002704
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andraz Ogorevc
Original assignee: IHELP WORLD Ltd
Current assignee: IHELP WORLD Ltd
Priority date: 2012-12-21
Filing date: 2013-12-06
Publication date: 2014-06-26
Anticipated expiration: 2015-06-21
Also published as: SI24268A

Abstract

The method for notifying of the invention that provides for adequate notification of persons, such as relatives, friends, accidental passers-by, etc. and/or institutions such as a group for interventions, emergency medical centre, hospitals in direct vicinity of a casualty, wherein the method sends information through an application installed on a mobile phone and/or a web interface about who needs help, the location of the casualty and the data on the accident. To provide first aid to a casualty the application offers educational content on first aid, display of locations of automated external defibrillators, hospitals, emergencies, police and fireman's stations, pharmacies and remote expert medical assistance through use of video and audio conferences when a camera on a mobile phone is activated, which allows a medical staff to assess the medical condition of a casualty in the field and to give useful information to rescuers who have reacted to an emergency call and are on their way. In this way the time needed to locate a person in need of emergency medical help is considerably shorter and proper help is successfully and rapidly offered to a person in need.

Description

Method for notifying, alarming and offering help through a mobile phone and/or web interface

Object of Invention

The object of the invention is a method for notifying, alarming and offering help, which by way of an application installed on a mobile phone and/or a web interface provides for a practically simultaneous notification and alarming of several persons at the same time, especially of rescuers and other groups for emergency intervention, with which the time until first aid is offered is shortened, which considerably increases survival possibilities especially in the case of a sudden cardiac arrest.

Technical Problem

The technical problem solved by the invention is how to considerably shorten the time needed to locate a person in need of emergency medical help and to successfully and rapidly offer proper help to a person in need. This is made possible by a method for notifying of the invention that provides for adequate notification of persons, such as relatives, friends, accidental passers-by, etc. and/or institutions such as a group for interventions, emergency medical centre, hospitals in direct vicinity within the radius of 300 metres or more from a casualty, wherein the method sends information through an application installed on a mobile phone and/or a web interface about who needs help, the location of the casualty and the data on the accident. To provide first aid to a casualty the application offers educational content on first aid, display of locations of automated external defibrillators (AED), hospitals, emergencies, police and fireman's stations, pharmacies and remote expert medical assistance through use of video and audio conferences when a camera on a mobile phone is activated, which allows a medical staff to assess the medical condition of a casualty in the field and to give useful information to rescuers who have reacted to an emergency call and are on their way.

Nowadays, a modern mobile phone is an omnipresent and very widely-used communication device, the processor strength of which and various supported connections, such as GPRS, UMTS, 3G, 4G, WLAN, NFC, Bluetooth, GPS and the like enable collection of information, uploading and startup of various software. Moreover, the phones allow for recording of video contents and taking pictures. The goal of the invention is use of all mentioned performances of a mobile phone and other devices that can be connected to a phone.

Prior Art

Heart and blood vessel diseases are number one cause of death in the world. In Europe, more than 4 million people die annually which is more than 40 % of all death cases in Europe. In fact, due to too slow help, poor knowledge of the basic resuscitation method (TPO), poor recognisability, access to and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) the degree of survival in case of a sudden cardiac arrest is very low, somewhere between 5 % and 7 %. An emergency ambulance (NMP) needs an average of about 8 minutes or more to arrive at a place of accident. This depends on location of a casualty, conditions on the road (traffic jam) and weather (snow, rain, icy conditions ...). If a person experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest is left unattended, his brain cells start dying after four minutes and irreversible brain damage occurs. A chance of survival decreases by 10 % per each minute. A huge problem of accidental persons (laymen) who offer help is poor knowledge of first aid, lack of knowledge about the basic resuscitation method, lack of information on locations of automated external defibrillators and on the mode of their use. Poor access to defibrillators is one of main problems as quite a large number of defibrillators are arranged in closed spaces, to which only authorized persons have access, and are not accessible 24 hours a day. If they knew that a person (friend or family member) needs help and if they were acquainted with the location of the casualty, family and friends would be the first to offer help, and beside them also unknowns having first aid knowledge.

A rapid response first aid and a quick application of an automated external defibrillator strongly contribute to a successful rescue in the event of a cardiac arrest. First persons to offer help are relatives, friends and normally the persons who are accidentally in direct vicinity and who cannot be expected to have expert skills.

Nowadays, a phone is provided with an SOS emergency call key allowing a user to notify his emergency contacts, such as relatives, friends or a personal physician by sending a text message including the name, the surname and the location of a casualty. A problem of this type of notification is that a casualty who has activated the SOS emergency call key does not know whether the emergency contacts have received the text message and/or whether they have reacted to it and/or when they will arrive at the location, because the system does not know where the emergency contact is located and does not provide the information about the nearest automated external defibrillators. In fact, the most important problem is that the receivers of a text message obtain an inaccurate location of the casualty. Searching of the location of the casualty is performed through a mobile signal that obtains an inaccurate location of the mobile phone, which may be up to one kilometre or even more distant from the actual location. The location of the casualty can be determined more accurately by a GPS signal, however, this may take up to two minutes or more and the casualty must be in an open area otherwise GPS does not function. Yet an additional huge problem of this type of notification is that the SOS emergency call key of a mobile phone cannot be used to send a text message to accidental passers-by who therefore, unfortunately, cannot react to an emergency call.

Based on the above, there is a need for a new notification method that would, apart from rapid notification about the location of a casualty, also provide other important information, such as educational content about first aid, display of nearest locations of automated external defibrillators, audio and/or video call with a doctor on duty, etc. All this is made possible by the method of the invention.

Description to the Solution to the Technical Problem

The essence of the suggested method for notifying, alarming and offering help resides in the fact that, when a registered user triggers an application, all needed data on a casualty and/or an accident, such as name and surname, location, medical data and condition are sent to a control server and the control server then notifies all registered users of the application in direct vicinity, within a radius of 300 metres or more, of a casualty or a place of accident. The registered users of the application can be emergency contacts, such as family members, friends, neighbours, personal physician, rescuers and all other users of the application in a casualty's direct vicinity. The application makes it possible to notify a dispatcher centre and/or an emergency medical centre.

When a user of the application receives a message in the form of an SOS alert notification and when the user of the application reacts to the emergency call, the user of the application who reacted to the emergency call receives important data, such as: casualty's name and surname, casualty's medical data, location address, problem description and locations of automated external defibrillators in direct vicinity of the casualty or the place of accident. The application displays a map with an indication of the fastest way to the casualty and to the nearest automated external defibrillator, and shows locations of emergency departments, hospitals, pharmacies, police and fire brigade stations. The application offers the user educational content on first aid and on proper handling with an automated external defibrillator. When the user reaches the casualty, he can use the application to activate an audio and/or video conference, provided the mobile phone enables it, with an emergency physician and the physician assesses the situation of the accident and offers rescue instructions.

If a casualty or an eye witness is not a registered user of the application, a dispatcher centre and/or an emergency medical centre receives an SOS call to a specified number and obtains from the caller all necessary data on the casualty and/or the accident, such as name and surname, location, medical data and condition, and the dispatcher centre and/or the emergency medical centre triggers a procedure of rescue via the application which sends the obtained data to the control server.

The notification method is also compatible with an SOS module. The SOS module is a portable device that can be arranged in a bracelet or necklace or belt or ring or pendant or another object, and when someone needs help and does not have a phone with him but only has an SOS module, he can press a key on the SOS module to activate Bluetooth, and Bluetooth sends a signal to a mobile phone or to a Bluetooth locator and the latter activates the application that sends an adequate message to the control server. The SOS module can be a bracelet provided with special sensors for measuring heart beat and body temperature. If a user of an SOS bracelet experiences a cardiac arrest, the SOS bracelet can automatically run the application because the SOS bracelet detects the condition of a heart function of the user (user's cardiac arrest) and automatically connects via a Bluetooth signal with a mobile phone and activates the application. If a mobile phone is too far from the casualty, the SOS bracelet can connect with the Bluetooth locator that activates the application. The Bluetooth locator is a device that detects a Bluetooth signal within a radius of a kilometre or more, determines who needs help and the location of the user by means of triangulation and signal strength.

Each user who desires to use the application must register and log into the system via web page and/or mobile phone. If a user is not yet registered, he must fill in a questionnaire, in which all essential data are given before registering:

- Name and surname

E-mail or username

Password

Mobile phone number

- Address (Street name, city, country)

Sex and age

- What is your blood type?

User type: rescuer, volunteer, cardiac patient, child, elderly person

Whether you have a pacemaker

- Medical conditions

- What are you allergic to?

- Which medicines do you take?

- Do you have an SOS bracelet: enter ID of the SOS bracelet

- Add your contacts in case of an emergency

- Your most often visited locations: I am at home, at work, at school, in the gym, in my weekend home...

When the user finishes the registration procedure, the application displays general terms and conditions of use of the application. When the user accepts the terms and conditions, the application activates an account and sends the user's registration or his data to the control server. The main page of the application dashboard appears. The dashboard has several keys, such as: educational content, resuscitation procedure, location of defibrillators, settings, on call, assistance and "Help" key. When the user clicks the key "Help", the application runs. The application asks the user: Who needs help? The user has two keys to select from: "Me" or "Other". When the user makes his selection, the application asks: What is the type of injury, for instance whether the casualty is conscious, whether the casualty is breathing, whether the casualty is bleeding, whether he has a head injury, amputation, poisoning, bone fracture... . When the user selects the type of injury, the application asks Where are you, what is your location? The user has options to select from pre-set locations (I'm at Home, at School, at Work...), to enter the location manually, nearby locations and find me on the map. Under both keys the user's location address is displayed, wherein the application automatically checks the user's location via GPS and/or Wi-Fi and/or mobile connection of GPRS UMTS/3G/4G signal. The application provides information about the accuracy of the location which depends on the accuracy of the signal (GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile connection GPRS/UMTS/3G/4G). The user of the application can manually change the address of the location and add a note, such as a description of the scene or a detailed description of the location, for instance in which floor the casualty is located. When the user enters the data on a location and checks the data for correctness, the application activates an emergency call to number 1 12 and/or 911 depending on the country.

The notifying method of the invention comprises: activating an emergency call; obtaining data on a casualty; sending the data on the casualty to a control server and simultaneously notifying a dispatcher centre and/or an emergency medical centre;

- sending notifications from the control server to registered users; checking a response by registered users; forwarding all necessary information on the casualty to registered users who have reacted to the notification; - notifying the dispatcher centre and/or the emergency medical centre and the casualty and/or an eye witness of the response; optionally, activating a physician on the part of registered users and/or the eye witness.

The invention will be described in more detail by way of figures showing in: Figure 1: Eye witness and/or casualty is not user of the application Figure 2: Casualty is user of the application Figure 3 : Eye witness is user of the application Figure 4: Casualty is user of an SOS module

In the first embodiment, when an eye witness 20a and/or a casualty 20 is not a user of the application, the eye witness 20a and/or the casualty 20 calls the emergency number via mobile phone or landline phone (Figure 1) and gives an operator in a dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre 3c data 1, such as: who is calling, what has happened, where has it happened, how many casualties are there, what are the injuries. The operator enters these data 1 into a database 10 on a computer and/or a tablet computer and/or a mobile phone, in which the application is loaded, and simultaneously sends the data 1 to a control server 2. Once the control server 2 receives the data 1, it processes them and checks, to whom the data 1 should be sent:

- Rescuers 3b competent in the area of the casualty 20 and/or the eye witness 20a because the application checks their locations via GPS or Internet; Wi-Fi or GPRS UMTS/3G/4G mobile signal in the form of a help notification 9. The rescuers 3b are the persons perfectly skilled in first aid and registered in the notification system and ready to be on duty via the application within an area of 300 metres or more.

- Users 3d of the application who are in direct vicinity within a radius of 300 metres or more from the casualty 20 and/or the eye witness 20a, because the application checks their locations in the same way as with the rescuers 3b. The control server 2 sends the data 1 to the users 3d of the application in the form of the help notification 9, with which they obtain all useful information, such as who needs help and the location of the casualty 20.

If the users 3d of the application and/or the rescuers 3d react to the emergency call, the application displays the location of the casualty 20, locations of automated external defibrillators, rescuing procedure and displays the remaining data 1 of the casualty 20. Simultaneously, a response signal 8 is sent from the user 3d or rescuer 3b back to the control server 2, so the control server 2 sees how many people have reacted to the emergency call and when they will reach the casualty 20. The control server 2 then sends an SOS report 22 to the dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre 3 c.

The user 3d of the application and/or the rescuer 3b can use the application to activate a remote video and/or audio conference 6 with a physician 7 who is a registered user of the application. The physician 7 can assess the medical condition of the casualty 20 in the field via mobile phone and/or computer and/or tablet computer and the physician 7 can give useful and appropriate information to the users and/or rescuers who have responded the emergency call.

In the second embodiment when a casualty 20 who is a registered user of the application needs help, he runs the application in a mobile phone 16, the main page of the application menu opens, he presses the "Help" key, then selects "Me" and then selects the type of injury, the note, the location (where he is) and then presses the key "Call 1 12". The emergency call (1 12 or 911 depending on the country) is activated and simultaneously data 1, such as location, personal and medical data, user's notes, are sent to a control server 2. When the control server 2 receives the data 1 , it processes them and checks, to whom the data 1 should be sent:

Emergency contacts 3 a, whom the casualty 20 has stored in the application, wherein the control server 2 sends the data 1 in the form of a text message 9a to those emergency contacts 3 a who are not registered users of the application and in the form of the help notification 9 to those emergency contacts 3 a who are registered users of the application; Rescuers 3b competent in the area of the casualty 20 because the application checks their locations in a way as described in the first embodiment;

Dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre 3 c that is competent in the area of the casualty 20 in the form of a help notification 9 and/or an SMS alarm 15;

- Users 3d of the application who are in direct vicinity within a radius of 300 metres or more from the casualty 20 in a way as disclosed in the first embodiment.

If the emergency contacts 3a and/or users 3d of the application and/or the rescuers 3b react to the emergency call, the application displays the accident location, locations of automated external defibrillators, rescue procedure and displays the remaining data 1 of the casualty 20, and the response signal 8 is simultaneously sent to the control server 2, so the control server 2 can see how many people have reacted to the emergency call and when they will reach the casualty 20. The control server 2 then sends a report 22 to the dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre 3 c, and sends to the casualty 20, who is the user of the application, the help notification 9 about how many people have reacted to the emergency call and when they will arrive.

The casualty 20 and/or emergency contacts 3a and/or users 3d of the application and/or rescuers 3b can use the application to activate a remote video and/or audio conference 6 with a physician 7 in a way as described in the first embodiment.

In the third embodiment when an eye witness 20a who is a user of the application wants to help a casualty 20 (Figure 3), he activates the application in a mobile phone 16 and presses the "Help" key in the application, then presses the "Other" key, enters the type of injury, notes on the condition of the casualty 20, such as whether the casualty is conscious, whether he is breathing, whether a cardiac arrest is suspected, what the circumstances are and the location of the casualty 20 into the system and then presses the "Call 112" key. An emergency call is activated and simultaneously data 1 , such as location, personal and medical data and notes of the user of the application are sent to a control server 2. When the control server 2 receives the data 1, it processes them and checks to whom the data 1 are to be sent:

Dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre 3c competent in the area of the eye witness 20a in the form of a help notification 9 and/or an SMS alarm 15; Users 3d of the application who are in direct vicinity within a radius of 300 metres or more from the eye witness 20a or the casualty 20, in a way as described in the first embodiment;

Rescuers 3b competent in the area of the eye witness 20a because the application checks their locations in a way as described in the first embodiment.

If the users 3d of the application and/or rescuers 3b react to the help call, the application displays the location of the eye witness 20a, locations of automated external defibrillators, rescuing procedure and simultaneously a response signal 8 is sent to the control server 2, so the control server 2 can establish how many people have reacted to the call and when they will reach the eye witness 20a. The control server 2 then sends a report 22 to the dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre 3c, and sends to the eye witness 20a, who is the user of the application, the help notification 9 about how many people have reacted to the help call and when they will arrive.

The eye witness 20a and/or the user 3d of the application and/or the emergency contacts 3a can use the application to activate a remote video and/or audio conference 6 with a physician 7 in a way as described in the first embodiment.

In the fourth embodiment when a casualty 20 is the user of the application and needs help and has an SOS module 11 with him, the casualty, by pushing the button on the SOS module 1 1, activates a Bluetooth connection 12, the SOS module 11 connects with a mobile phone 16 and/or a Bluetooth locator 21 and sends data 1 (location, personal and medical data on the user) via mobile connection and/or internet connection to a control server 2. When the control server 2 receives the data 1, it processes it and the procedure is continued in a way as described in the second embodiment.

Claims

1. A method for notifying, alarming and offering help, which by way of an application installed on a mobile phone and/or a web interface provides for a practically simultaneous notification and alarming of several persons at the same time, especially of rescuers and other groups for emergency intervention, with which the time until first aid is offered is shortened, which considerably increases survival possibilities especially in the case of a sudden cardiac arrest, characterized in that it comprises:

activating an emergency call; obtaining data on a casualty; sending the data on the casualty to a control server and simultaneously notifying a dispatcher centre and/or an emergency medical centre; sending notifications from the control server to registered users; checking a response by registered users; forwarding all necessary information on the casualty to registered users who have reacted to the notification;

- notifying the dispatcher centre and/or the emergency medical centre and the casualty and/or an eye witness of the response;

- optionally, activating a physician on the part of registered users and/or the eye witness, wherein the emergency call is activated by an eye witness (20a) and/or a casualty (20) via mobile phone (16) and/or SOS module (1 1) and data on the casualty are forwarded by the eye witness (20a) and/or the casualty (20) and/or are obtained by a procedure of registration of a user.

2. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that the data (1) are sent to a control server (2) automatically when an emergency call is activated in the case of registered users, or are forwarded by a dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre (3c) in the case of non-registered users.

3. Method according to preceding claims characterized in that the control server (2) sends notifications (9) in the form of a help notice to registered users (3a, 3b, 3d) and in the form of a text message (9a) to non-registered users.

4. Method according to preceding claims characterized in that the control server (2) sends a notification (9) in the form of a notification and/or an SMS alarm (15) to the dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre (3 c).

5. Method according to preceding claims characterized in that upon a reaction of a registered user (3a, 3b, 3d) a response signal (8) is sent back to the control server (2) which then sends an SOS report (22) to the dispatcher centre and/or emergency medical centre (3c).

6. Method according to preceding claims characterized in that upon a reaction of registered users (3a, 3b, 3d) they are displayed the location of the casualty (20), locations of automated external defibrillators, resuscitation procedure and other data (1) of the casualty (20).

7. Method according to preceding claims characterized in that a physician (7) who is a registered user is activated via a video and/or audio conference (6) via mobile phone and/or computer and/or tablet computer.