Inspiration
Many of us had these experiences before - when one of your friend had one too many drink at a party, or when your roommate started choking from their favorite food - most of time, people's first reaction is to panic, follow by helplessness of not knowing what to do. The inspiration of InstaDoc stems from the goal of teaching common medical practices to everyone. By having exact steps and immediate actions needed for each emergency situation, InstaDoc allows its users to react quickly in time of emergency and stall more time until professional medical assistants arrive.
What it does
One of InstaDoc's main features is to provide at-the-moment assistance to various common health emergencies such as choking, intoxication, CPR and seizure. It is designed to give the user a quick response to what actions are needed to be taken in case of experiencing or witnessing these emergencies. Another feature of InstaDoc is its ability to share user's current location to the person of contact. Simply press "Send Current Location" button on the application in case of emergency (feeling too drunk at a party, or lost the way back home) , and the user's current location, in terms of longitude and latitude, will be sent to the person of contact via text message. InstaDoc is mainly targeted for user of young age, such as college students, but it is also a great choice among older generations with its location sharing feature and emergency contacts.
How we built it
InstaDoc was built entirely with Android Studio and Java. InstaDoc's logo was created in Autodesk SketchBook. Multiple medically creditable websites were consulted for accurate and safe medical assistance for anyone to practice.
Challenges we ran into
As two, first time app developers and Hackathon participants, my partner Allen and I ran into various challenges during the past two days. Although currently taking Java class in school, using Java and Android Studio to develop an application with only past knowledge on C++ was rough. But after referring to the Android official website for starter helps, and reading about various features (such as layouts and activities etc.) of the Android Studio, we quickly got comfortable with the software and the coding. We had a later start than rest of the participants, considering we changed the features of InstaDoc multiple times before we started, and that was another big challenge - time constrains. We had many good ideas and cool features to include for InstaDoc, but coding non-stop for two days drained all the energy from my team. At the end, we decided to focus mainly on the essence of the app, the treatment for fours different common emergencies and location sharing feature, and make sure the entire application is functional. However, InstaDoc will not just stop here! We have a lot more planned for InstaDoc, as you can read below under "What's Next for InstaDoc" and we are certain, with time, they will all be achieved.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We completed InstaDoc from scratch over the course of two days, and the application works (even though it is just a prototype with basic functionalities)! As first time application developers, this is the biggest accomplishment for us in this Hackathon. Also, making through the Hackathon without giving up as first time participant is one of the biggest accomplishments as well. In general, Allen and I had our minds set on learning through participating and trying our bests, and we are both very happy with the results.
What we learned
We learned how to utilize softwares such as Andriod Studio and Java to make our very first Android application including implementing the GPS feature in our application, making various layouts and activities so the application can have smooth transitions, and access user's SMS while using the application. More so, my partner and I learned how to time manage better by assigning tasks evenly among the two of us, and communicate on what we thought was the best for the application. This Hackathon gave both of us a taste of what the future of Computer Engineers might be like, and we are both ready for the challenege.
What's next for InstaDoc
InstaDoc has a lot more room to progress and improve. One feature my partner and I wanted to include in the application, but was unable to due to lack of time, was to show nearby hospitals and emergency centers near the user with his/her current location. Since the application already retrieves the user's location with longitude and latitude, utilizing this information to find nearby hospitals will be the next step in development for InstaDoc. The "Profile" feature of InstaDoc still needs to be implemented. Having the user to enter his/her personal health informations can increase the accuracy in medical judgements and effectiveness in receiving treatment. Also, there are many more common emergencies that InstaDoc can include such as food allergies, bleedings, burn, electric shock, poisoning, and stroke etc. We have planned for InstaDoc to have audio support which increases accessibility massively. Having the application read out instructions for the user during time of emergency not only allows the user to free both hands, but also allows the user to direct full attention to the patient.
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