DirectER

Splash Screen
Presenting users with their current location
Type in a radius and get hospitals near you (drive time + ER wait time)
You can select a hospital from list and the app will give you directions

Inspiration

While we were out of town for fall break, one of our friends got into a shocking accident that required us to take him to the ER. As per the usual course of action, we followed what google maps said was the closest hospital to get there as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, we had no way of knowing that the wait time at this hospital was a few hours longer than usual, meaning it would have been more efficient to have gone to a farther hospital with a shorter wait time. Luckily, it was not a life-threatening injury for our friend, but for the millions who have these life-threatening injuries, even one minute could be crucial for survival.

What it does

Our project aims to resolve this issue by providing an app that presents our users with a list of the hospitals near them, with the hospitals being sorted by the total amount of time it would be to get to the ER. What this means is that the top hospital on the list has the shortest combined time of distance and ER wait time (we show the total as well as the separate times for both). Our users can then click on the hospital they want, and they will be presented with directions on how to get there.

How we built it

We built the app using the Google Maps API for the current location and maps, Android Studio for the actual app, and multiple APIs to get hospitals near the user as well as ER wait times. Additionally, the back end developed several algorithms to connect everything together.

Challenges we ran into

Plenty of errors using APIs Plenty of errors with Android Studio Plenty of errors with emulators Plenty of errors with us functioning on no sleep

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Learning how to use multiple APIs we all had no knowledge in Getting more proficient in Android Studio Developing our first real app

What we learned

Time management in regards to what code takes what amount of time Always test with a physical device Plan more in advance And of course plenty of new knowledge regarding everything mentioned earlier