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Mobile2023
MLH Emergency & Volunteers — iOS Applications
Two interconnected iOS apps for emergency response and volunteer coordination, independently built and shipped.
Overview
Two interconnected iOS apps supporting emergency response and volunteer coordination, independently developed and shipped with ~660 App Store downloads.
Problem
Coordinating emergency response and a roster of volunteers required real-time tracking and fast communication across phone, WhatsApp, and Waze, with no existing tool tying them together.
Requirements
- Track a roster of 66 volunteers and medical-equipment status in real time
- Integrate phone, WhatsApp, and Waze for communication and navigation
- Support fast SOS dispatch with minimal delay between an incident and a responder being on the way
Architecture
Two interconnected native iOS applications — one for emergency dispatch/SOS handling, one for volunteer coordination — sharing live tracking of volunteers and medical-equipment status, integrated with the Phone, WhatsApp, and Waze APIs.
Technical Challenges
Coordinating two separate apps around shared, live state
Volunteer availability, location, and equipment status needed to stay in sync between the dispatch-facing and volunteer-facing apps.
Minimizing dispatch-to-arrival time
Reducing the delay between an SOS being raised and a volunteer being routed required tight integration with Waze for live navigation and WhatsApp/phone for immediate contact.
Key Decisions
Split into two interconnected apps rather than one
Separating the dispatcher-facing and volunteer-facing experiences kept each app focused and simpler, at the cost of needing to keep shared state in sync between them.
Solution
Built live tracking for the volunteer roster and equipment status, and integrated phone, WhatsApp, and Waze APIs to connect dispatch directly to the nearest available volunteer.
Results
- Cut average dispatch-to-arrival time from ~7 to ~3 minutes (~57% faster).
- ~660 App Store downloads across both apps.
Lessons Learned
- TODO: Add a personal lesson learned from building and shipping this project independently.