Inspiration

Family safety apps show where you are — not who you are. In an emergency, remote loved ones still can’t answer: what do responders need to know right now? I am not close to most of my family but am constantly worried about them in case of medical emergencies. Apple Medical ID stays on the lock screen. I wanted check-ins for my people (especially for my family as I don't live near most of them), with medical context and to get a calm next step as I generally freeze when I'm in fight or flight situations and don't know what to do next.

What it does

Lifeline is a care-circle app for SOS and nearby-crime check-ins. Circles the user creates get location, medical profile, nearest Atlanta ER, and a copy-ready 911 script. No auto-dial — humans decide; I just want to help them.

How we built it

Expo 57 + React Native + TypeScript. Maps/location for SOS and trip context. Atlanta GIS for neighborhood/NPU + map layers. Gemini rewrites the dispatcher script. A Render Workflow receives the Care Team packet on alert. Speed/metrics persist to Tiger Data via a small DigitalOcean API. Local demo circles keep the judge story reliable.

Challenges we ran into

Wiring live sponsor services under a deadline and not over doing the features so that I could stay in scope and create something meaningful and helpful not just full of features. Staying honest: curated crime for a stable demo, live open data where it actually helps. Also, recording the demo, I am passionate about the work I do so keeping it under 2 minutes was a bit of a task I didn't expect to struggle with.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

A full SOS → enrich → script → Render → Tiger path that shows ok in the pipeline. Circle-scoped safety checks with medical escalation. A tight demo story: escalate one person, all-clear another circle, then SOS with live sponsor steps.

What we learned

Open data is strongest when it’s in the alert path (neighborhood/ER), not a doomscroll feed. Ship the human loop first, then stack Gemini / Render / Tiger.

What's next for Lifeline App

Live HealthKit / Care Watch thresholds, real APD crime feeds behind the same check-in protocol, push fan-out polish, deeper Tiger continuous aggregates for circle dashboards and expansion to other areas around the US (For example TX, as I live in Austin)

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