CARS (chatting and response system)

Mass disasters such as earthquakes can cause a loss of electricity or flooding, making it difficult for people with chronic health diseases to continue using life-sustaining equipment. With obstructed communication and widespread panic, they may also be unable to contact emergency care – especially if they are socially isolated.

This issue is present on a global scale, with an average of 60,000 people dying from natural disasters yearly. This number grows as power failures may continue and injuries can increase the risk of death. 

However, we can reduce the risk of fatal injuries with CARS. By ensuring that rescue squads check in with registered patients, our solution addresses the communication failure that is often associated with these large-scale disasters. Our team has first-hand witnessed the impact of floods and power outages on at-risk populations in New Jersey, and aims to improve the lives of these populations.

This includes the daily lives as well. Around 50% of Parkinson's patients suffer from depression, as do approximately 20% of people with a cardiovascular disease. The mental health of these patients isn't the best, and with the increasing stigma surrounding this topic, it must also be addressed. 

Hence, by building an online community for people with similar diseases to interact and learn, we hope to make patients feel less isolated. We hope to improve the lives of registered people and protect them under all scenarios.

Our solution aims to assist and prepare at-risk populations in the event of a natural disaster. First, we reach past the communication barrier that may exist with technological failure by connecting registered patients with local rescue squads. When patients register with CARS, they enter their address, so that we can link them to nearby health agencies. In the event of a disaster, these groups will physically seek out patients during disasters to confirm their safety or transport them to a treatment facility if need be. 

Next, CARS helps people control and understand their conditions so that they or their loved ones may see what to do during an emergency. It does so by acting as a daily calendar for the patient. Every day, the patient may update their condition with their progression, new symptoms, vitals, etc. and receive a tip based on how they are doing. In doing so, we hope to educate people so that they can understand their body and what is best for it.

Finally, to create a safe and supportive community for patients to grow and learn together, CARS has a chatting system. With consent, we connect members to people with similar disabilities so that they can share experiences with one another or provide advice.

Our solution primarily serves at-risk populations such as the elderly or at-home patients with chronic health diseases. In particular, CARS would address those who have their lives endangered during disasters. For example, being attached to a ventilator or a home dialysis machine during a power failure can stop people from receiving the care that they need.

Our solution has the potential to save the lives of these populations during disasters as they would have prioritized access to medical care regardless of whether they are able to call an emergency facility or not. They would not need to risk their lives by waiting on medical care or transport, and by remaining under the radar of rescue squads, their safety can drastically improve.

Additionally, through our online chatting community, they can reach out to people with similar experiences, stopping them from feeling lonely. Studies show that around 1/3 of patients with a serious chronic illness suffer from feelings of depression as well. However, by understanding what they can do to help themselves with CARS' recording system, and by talking about their symptoms with people who suffer from similar things, their mental health can also improve.

Our team members reside in parts of New Jersey that are especially diverse. We often engage with people of all ages that experience poverty or are significantly restrained by medical conditions. During disasters, these people are in the most need of help, which is why we hope to develop a system that can ensure their safety during emergencies. By speaking to the loved ones of those who cannot live without medical technology, it is clear to us that their biggest worries during disasters are not themselves, but their family member.

With members working as emergency medical technicians, we are exposed to these at-risk populations on a daily basis. Additionally, by reaching out to local hospitals, we have a deep understanding of the serious care that some require. For these people who require significant medical attention but may lack representation for themselves, the most important thing is having others reach out so that they can feel safe during an emergency situation.

Our solution is currently in development, as our product is in its primary stages of development. Although it is still not ready to serve populations, it is under continued development and refinement before being released to a small user base.

As we are still developing CARS, we are currently serving 0 people. However, as we finalize our app, contact more hospitals, and spread the word, we hope to expand nation wide.

One of our primary purposes for applying to Solve is to overcome financial barriers associated with the creation and assimilation of our app, as well as receive guidance on the widespread implementation of this idea across communities. Some of these barriers are especially hard for us to overcome, as we lack the resources and connections required to fully incorporate this idea across the United States.

Our solution incorporates current aspects of emergency care and shifts it to situations where it can best be used to serve those in fragile situations. It creates an innovative spin on available systems so that underserved populations can receive attention when they need it the most.

Over the next year, we hope to successfully develop the app and make it usable for hospital systems and patients. By reaching out to fellow programmers and designers, we can speed up this process, and over the next five years, incorporate CARS throughout major hospitals. First, we will start by reaching out to important healthcare systems in New Jersey, such as Atlantic Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, and RWJBarnabas Health facilities. By implementing the app in these key providers of emergency care during disasters, we can make an impact on underrepresented communities. To carry out this process, we can pitch our idea, and with financial aid from Solve, implement CARS within these hospital databases so that they may have a complete record of CARS affiliated patient history.

As we approach the five-year mark, we hope to incorporate our system across the East Coast so that at-risk residents of all Eastern states can enjoy this safeguard. Though this will be more complicated, requiring interstate connections, collaborative efforts with hospital chains can assist in partnerships. Additionally, gaining assistance in public relations through Solve can help us market our strategies so hospitals may reach out first.

The progress toward our goals will mostly be measured by the number of users who sign up for and actively use our product. Since CARS not only functions as an emergency care identifier, the extent to which users utilize the communication features of our app is a significant measurement towards our impact goals. As traffic in our app increases across multiple regions, we can see our solution's impact and current progress towards our short-term and long-term goals.

Our solution will be able to target the root causes of death for at-risk populations during natural disasters. We hope to provide immediate care for patients during calamities, and in the long-term, benefit their mental wellbeing by reducing stress and providing a collaborative chatting environment for fellow users so that they can overcome feelings of depression and loneliness.

We have been using JavaScript to code our app.

Our solution has no barriers that exclude people based on their features, including gender, ethniticity, race, religion, etc. The primary determining factor for our solution’s priority is the urgency of one’s health conditions, especially considering how emergent their need for treatment is. By doing this, we are incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity, as no one is excluded from using this system.

Our business model is that of a free service, just like many 911 services across New Jersey. These treatment and recovery services will be provided by mobile health systems, including those that belong to hospitals and volunteer rescue squads. Our customer-base will likely have a significant need for this service, as they would be unable to help themselves in the circumstances that require this help. Since CARS will be a free service and will not generate revenue, we will need funding from Solve to begin assimilating our ideas until it can be fully implemented in all the areas that we hope to reach.

The primary financial burden is associated with the initial implementation of our solution. This would be best achieved through funding from Solve. Later, as the system gains popularity and becomes a standard for hospitals to have, revenue can be generated by charging hospitals for their use of the service in their area. This will allow our plan to remain financially sustainable even after there is no more funding.

We are still in the primary development of our app, so there is no way to measure our current financial sustainability. However, as our team is knowledgeable on JavaScript and the coding of our app, which means that we will not require financial support until spreading our app to consumers.