This research was predominantly the most important part in developing the plan for the prototype as it allowed us to identify the current market’s products to achieve an innovative approach. Many hours of research showed that there were many first aid apps available, varying from basic information to credible Red Cross applications. This was the current market I discovered:
Red Cross First Aid
App provides simple and easy advice on 18 everyday first aid scenarios, and tips for how to prepare for emergencies. The app has videos, interactive quizzes and step-by-step advice. No internet connection is required due to the information being hosted on the app itself, and is available on blackberry, apple and android operating system platforms.
- Google Play: Free
- iTunes: Free
- Blackberry App World: Free
First Aid
- Available on Android OS
- Procedures in stressful situations
- Based on illustrations, videos, short texts that
- show step-by-step actions.
- Google Play: Free
Pocket First Aid and CPR
- 4 videos and 46 high resolution illustration added.
- Search functionality.
- Adult, child and infant CPR.
- Google play: $1.87
Hospital Locator
The Novarus Mobile Hospital Finder is a free public service, and allows users to find the nearest hospital by GPS location as well as get other information about the location.
Caracal Diagnosis
Caracal Diagnosis is a quick and easy tool that any medical practitioner shouldn’t be without. It’s like a medical search engine in which you can simply input medical words—can be signs, symptoms or lab results—to be able to get the list of possible diseases (differential diagnosis) that affect the patient.
My research into the market concluded that there was basically nothing available in the diagnostic side of first aid; as the only currently expert system – based – app was solely reliant on database searching from keywords. This possibly may be due to legal issues, as the information provided in a diagnostic app would require a solid grounding of medical practitioner knowledge and information to back up the sources. Also, no app could be one hundred percent accurate with diagnosing a patient, so the expert system in the Thick I.C.E app should be strictly limited to only first aid problems – not serious health issues.