Abstract:

In early 2003, m-Health was considered a type of wireless telemedicine involving the use of mobile telecommunication technologies and their integration with mobile healthcare delivery systems. Telemedicine surfaced to address problems springing up from geographic separation between people in need of health care and those with the capacity to provide it. Mobile technology, irrespective of platform and device extends access to and increases efficiency in health emergency services and responses, including ambulance models. It is overt that in most conventional emergency alert/notification systems (EAS), call-taking can be difficult sometimes while reporting an emergency particularly if the person on the phone is a close relative of the dying patient and is experiencing panic or fear; if they are out on the street or on the highway and do not know the exact address of the emergency (NHS Careers, 2012), or perhaps the immediate person to save the day is either a dumb, speech impaired or a deaf, hearing-impaired person. This is why an alternative system is required that will address these issues and in addition complement the existing system by bringing simplicity in locating emergency scene. The Emergency Medical Service (EMS) industry is investigating complementary and alternative methods for requesting assistance and contacting like the Enhanced-911. One such method being investigated is SMS messaging. This research work is focused on designing an m-Health application that uses mobile phones running java as its interface to build an inexpensive and complementing means to notify ambulance stations of accident locations for swift and timely first aid attention compared to others that are built into vehicles (e.g. GM Onstar) or others strictly for smart phones. This notification system engages GSM’s SMS services and Google Map APIs in transmitting the exact location of where emergency service is needed to an ambulance point.