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SOS SYSTEM

5aa

More than 150,000 Togolese have downloaded the SOS Systems application, which helps precisely locate the place of occurrence of a disaster, can identify the health history of an unconscious victim by scanning the QR code of the bracelet, and shares daily health tips and tricks.

Innovation Summary

Innovation Overview

Togo is facing a real problem of emergency management during road accidents. This problem is illustrated by the lack of dissemination of health information to young Togolese, the inability of hospitals to be alerted to the arrival of the wounded in the minutes following a disaster, the inability of paramedics to know the injuries observed , the nearest and best equipped care center to accommodate the victims, the lack of a system to easily resolve customer complaints. and the lack of digital health record books. Rescuers to identify the medical history of the victims to better treat them.
Our solution is a computerized information system on health, geolocation, management and reporting of claims to lifeguards and insurance companies.

The system includes twomobile applications: SOS Mobile and SOS Ambulance, two Web platforms: SOS Supervisor and SOS ADS, and an office platform: SOS Hospital. SOS Mobile and SOS Ambulance allow a witness or a victim of a disaster (road accident, crisis, illness, fire) to launch in two clicks a signal that will be geo-located by rescuers and companies. the rescue, the SOS hospital tells rescuers the appropriate hospital to recover the victim.

Via SOS Mobile, the signal transmitter receives emergency advice (images and text messages) from the SOS supervisors in real time, after the signal has been sent and before it arrives at the scene of the incident. This system works with or without the Internet and allows emergency physicians to find people to inform in case of an emergency for victims and their medical history through the application by typing the victim registration information. The medical history of the victims, protected and accessible only to first-aiders or doctors, will be noted by the rescuers and transmitted to the emergency department before any surgical procedure. SOS Mobile is also a platform for receiving information on health (screening campaign, vaccination, etc.), safety and well-being, and also allows reporting of claims to insurance companies.
Finally, we have been implementing with a partner since the beginning of this year the scan of bracelets equipped with a QR code worn by individuals that retraces the entire history of health of its owner with a smartphone or not. We will launch it by the end of this year. These bracelets are already manufactured and deployed by the partner in Ivory Coast. The beneficiaries are the public, NGOs, international institutions, public services responsible for relief (firefighters, emergency medical services), health promotion associations and insurance agencies.

Innovation Description

What Makes Your Project Innovative?

SOS Systems is low-cost and relies on a new method of sharing information through our platforms. SOS Mobile, not only allows users (victim or witness), at the same time, to send their position at the place of injury both to rescuers and insurance companies, but also help them to have free access to health, safety, well-being information. Participants are rewarded (by communication credit or internet package) if they share these information on social networks and with others.
On our advertisements and information platform, companies and organizations can send information in different languages (both local and official) to reach their target. Our bracelet equipped with a QR code has the potential to save lives when individuals are in disaster situations. Rescuers can scan the QR code that includes their health history and thus provide appropriate care.

What is the current status of your innovation?

Since the implementation of our solution and its launch on the Togolese market, it has effectively helped rescuers to assist victims in the event of disasters. The test phase of the solution with the bodies of sappers pmoiers is completed and every day they intervene on theaters of sinsitres and proceed to a assistance of the victims. More than 150,000 Togolese have our mobile application on their smartphones and outside the launch of claims, they receive daily alerts and health advice. This is so effective that many young startups in the field of organic food, of fitness, solicit our platform to send messages of mass health.

Innovation Development

Collaborations & Partnerships

Many actors were involved at the beginning of the launch of our solution: firefighters, SAMU, GNO. Recently to be able to launch QR code bracelets on the market, we have established a partnership with an Ivorian company that has already launched and markets bracelets in the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire. We are working with a partner on Morocco with which we will launch SOS SYSTEM in late December 2018.

Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

Since the launch of the project, we had feedback from users and partners, and this allows us to adapt and improve the functionalities of the system. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Digital Economy have spoken out in favour of the life-saving potential of our project. Several healthcare companies and organizations have subscribed to our platform for advertising and sponsorship of health information.

Innovation Reflections

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

Our system signals more than 300 disasters (road accidents and diseases) a day and more than a hundred lives have been saved. Every day, our system directly reaches 200,000 SOS Mobile users and indirectly about 50,000 people a day on social networks, with the sharing of health information sponsored by several companies and organizations. By the end of 2019, we plan to reduce the number of road deaths in Togo from 15% to 40%. We will launch our solution on Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire at the end of the year and in four countries of the sub-region by 2020. Our goal is to reach 1 000 000 people a day thanks to our information on the health. Our challenge is also to maximize access to the health bracelet for millions of people in Africa who can save their lives with information on their medical history in the event of a disaster. Since 2016, SOS System has accumulated several awards in Togo and international.

Challenges and Failures

Our challenge today is to conquer the sub-regional markets. We also need to build our visibility especially with our many users and especially motivate non-users of smartphones to buy our bracelets for it to help during disasters. We must also provide a stronger computer security of our users' data as these are very sensitive.

Conditions for Success

For the success of this innovation, leadership and commitment by the promoter team are required to improve the system. Secondly, a stable political and social environment will be a sufficient condition for the success of the project. Finally, to enable our system to be exploited by many people, financial resources are necessary to carry out communication and to support all the expenses generated by the project.

Replication

Disasters such as road accidents and disease crisis spare no country in the world. Statistically, more than 1.25 million people die on the road each year. All governments are working to reduce the number of road deaths. In order to be able to save several lives in Togo, as well as elsewhere in Africa and in the world, we have designed our system so that it can work anywhere in the world with simply a minimal internet connection. The deployment could possibly differ from country to country, taking into account local realities. Other countries can replicate our innovation to solve problems in governments related to geolocation, disasters management and health information to people.We have learned the importance of perseverance in implementing our innovation. At the beginning, we faced a lot of resistance to the project, including those that thought that it was too idealistic and those that thought that it would not work in the context of Africa.

Lessons Learned

We have learned the importance of perseverance in implementing our innovation. At the beginning, we faced a lot of resistance to the project, including those that thought that it was too idealistic and those that thought that it would not work in the context of Africa. Our perseverance allowed us to go from difficulty to difficulty and finally proceed with the launching of the project. Thanks to this, our innovation has been well received by national authorities including the Ministry of Digital Economy, and this pushes us to continue working towards of goal of reducing fatalities and promoting health information regarding diseases in Togo and Africa.

Year: 2017
Level of Government: National/Federal government

Status:

  • Evaluation - understanding whether the innovative initiative has delivered what was needed

Innovation provided by:

Media:

Date Published:

23 August 2017

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