HelpSignal

An emergency app using voice input to assess situations, alert nearby certified helpers (CPR, first aid), and notify first responders—providing immediate assistance before official help arrives.
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In a world where every second counts, we've noticed a crucial gap in emergency response. That's why we embarked on creating this app: to bridge the response time between calling for help and receiving it. Our goal is to connect CPR experts, EMTs, and medical professionals with those in need, ensuring that help arrives faster than ever.

Here's why this project matters:

• Every second saves lives. When emergencies strike, immediate assistance can make all the difference. This app aims to mobilize trained professionals in the vicinity before official responders arrive.

• Empowerment through community. By connecting individuals in need with local medical experts, we create a support network that fosters community engagement and trust.

• Technology for good. This project leverages technology to enhance public safety, ensuring that our communities are better prepared for emergencies.

We understand that no single solution fits all scenarios. This app is a work in progress, and we're committed to evolving it based on feedback and real-world usage. Your insights are invaluable, so please feel free to contribute by forking this repo, submitting a pull request, or opening an issue.

We used React Native and Expo Development to build the application, targeting Android for live voice transcription from expo-speech-recognition and sending the transcription after recording to Cloudflare Worker. The Cloudflare Worker then uses the BAAI general embedding model to vectorize the transcription. The categories of needed certifications or experience are in a vector database, and vector search is done to get the most relevant person for the situation.

The account system is on Amazon RDS, as well as the current emergencies. After an emergency is categorized, it's put onto the database, which is called on every refresh by people with accounts and certifications. A map is shown on the page to show locations of emergencies.

The backend is hosted on a separate Flask server, which can be found here.

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Programmed in

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1. Install dependencies

   npm install

2. Start the app

    npx expo start

In the output, you'll find options to open the app in a

• development build
• Android emulator
• iOS simulator
• Expo Go, a limited sandbox for trying out app development with Expo

You can start developing by editing the files inside the app directory. This project uses file-based routing.

When you're ready, run:

npm run reset-project

This command will move the starter code to the app-example directory and create a blank app directory where you can start developing.

To learn more about developing your project with Expo, look at the following resources:

• Expo documentation: Learn fundamentals, or go into advanced topics with our guides.
• Learn Expo tutorial: Follow a step-by-step tutorial where you'll create a project that runs on Android, iOS, and the web.

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.txt for more information.

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Joseph Helfenbein -

Yash Jani -

Nghia Duong -

Priank Dasgupta -

Project Link: https://github.com/josephHelfenbein/HelpSignal

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This project was submitted to the HackHarvard 2024 hackathon for the AllHealth track.

Devpost link: https://devpost.com/software/helpsignal

• Best README Template

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