JDWT - Innovare - LocalHeroFinder

When someone's life is on the line, every second counts.

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Inspiration

During emergencies, every second counts, but often the right help is just a few meters away and you don’t even know it. We wanted to create a way for people to connect with nearby responders and volunteers faster than calling traditional services. The idea came from seeing how slow coordination can be sometimes in real-life crises, like in rural areas, remote. Even urban areas can benefit to ensure first responders immediately during busy times when dispatch is overwhelmed.

What it does

Local Hero Finder is a platform that connects people in need with nearby “heroes”, local responders, volunteers, or skilled individuals who can help in urgent situations.
Users can request assistance, share their live location, and view responders on a dynamic map. Responders are notified depending on proximity. The app aims to make help accessible within minutes, in case there aren't already first responders which is common and is a result of majority of causlies.

How we built it

We built the frontend using React and TypeScript with Vite for fast builds and modular setup. The UI uses shadcn/ui and Tailwind CSS for clean, reusable components.
Our backend and database is just run on Supabase, which we used for authentication, data storage, and real-time syncing with PostGresQl.

Challenges we ran into

We were very rushed of time, since we couldn't make up our minds about an idea until after nearly half the hackathon was over and after it was bed time. We also had a hard time with github, since our communication was spotty.

The main technical challenge was getting Supabase’s real-time features to behave consistently in a Vite environment with Vercel. Between local and deployed builds, the connection didn’t always line up (IPv4 vs IPv6 issues), and that caused some API requests to fail without us even knowing.
We also had to adjust our project structure multiple times as we learned more about how Vite handles build paths.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud that the core idea actually came together.

What we learned

We learned a ton about working with Vite configurations, and managing state across components.
It also taught us the importance of environment setup, specifally IP versions, which we didn't even know was a thing that mattered.

On a less tehcnical note, we learned how to adapt when things don’t go perfectly and how to timecrunch.

What's next for Local Hero Finder

We want an integrated system with Red-Cross or other verfied first aid organizations to verify applicants to be a 'hero'.

We want to add a node js backend that runs an algorithm that only notifies 'heros' that can possible arrive faster than 911/EMS.

Maybe add a tipping system for 'heroes' to incentivize helping more.

Currently since its an MVP, only working with hard coded data, we need to plan a better architecure then just free vercel and free supabase for logic. We need a real backend lol.

BTW: vercel website has no log in functionality so sadly u cant see the rest of the web app for now.

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