MEDFLOW — Emergency Capability Routing Network

MEDFLOW

MEDFLOW — Emergency Capability Routing Network Inspiration Healthcare emergencies are often framed as a problem of distance: “What is the nearest hospital?” But being close does not necessarily mean being equipped. A patient may need blood, oxygen, surgery, imaging, specialist care, or intensive care, while the nearest facility may not have the resources required. In that situation, being sent to the wrong facility can create additional delays at exactly the moment when time matters most. That led us to a different question: What if emergency healthcare could route the patient's needs, not just the patient? That idea became MEDFLOW. What We Built MEDFLOW is a prototype for an emergency capability-routing network. Instead of functioning as a simple hospital directory, MEDFLOW takes an emergency scenario and creates a simulated pathway based on: The type of emergency Patient age group Urban or remote access Critical resource requirements Urgency Relevant facility capabilities The prototype then produces a structured emergency pathway, resource checklist, first-response guidance, and potential receiving facilities. The goal is simple: Need → Capability → Facility → Handoff We also wanted the experience to go beyond simply saying “go to Hospital X.” MEDFLOW explains why a particular type of capability matters and what should ideally be confirmed before transfer. How We Built It We built MEDFLOW as a lightweight web application using: HTML for the application structure CSS for the responsive interface, animations, cards, dashboards, and visual design JavaScript for the routing logic, urgency simulation, emergency pathways, resource matching, facility matching, and dynamic results Netlify for deployment The current prototype uses a curated set of publicly documented healthcare facilities and their publicly described capabilities. It intentionally does not pretend to have live information about beds, blood, oxygen, operating theatres, or equipment availability. That distinction is important to us because a real emergency-routing system cannot safely invent availability. What We Learned One of our biggest lessons was that healthcare access is not the same thing as geographic proximity. A hospital can be five minutes away and still be the wrong destination for a particular emergency. We also learned that building something for healthcare requires a different standard of responsibility. A system that looks impressive but provides unverified medical or facility information could potentially cause harm. That influenced our design: MEDFLOW is presented as a routing and infrastructure prototype, not a diagnostic tool or replacement for medical professionals. Challenges One of our biggest challenges was balancing ambition with safety. We wanted MEDFLOW to feel like something that could eventually operate across a real healthcare network, but we also had to be honest about what a prototype can actually know. For example, a production version would need: Verified and continuously updated facility data Real-time resource availability Ambulance and transport integration Clinician-approved emergency protocols Secure handling of sensitive health information Reliable location and travel-time data Strong validation and safety testing Human confirmation before critical routing decisions The current prototype therefore focuses on demonstrating the core concept and user experience rather than pretending those infrastructure problems have already been solved. What's Next? Our long-term vision is for MEDFLOW to become a real-time healthcare capability network. Imagine a system where facilities can securely report their current capabilities and availability, ambulances can share transport status, and emergency requests can be matched against the most appropriate verified resources. Instead of asking: “Where is the nearest hospital?” MEDFLOW aims to help answer: “Where can this patient receive the care they actually need, and can that facility prepare before they arrive?” That is the problem we wanted to start solving.