RapidRespond

Inspiration

A medical emergency happened where someone had a severe allergic reaction. 911 was called—but help didn’t arrive in time. What made it worse was that an EpiPen was sitting unused in a nearby house. That moment highlighted a simple but devastating gap: life-saving medicine can be physically close, but completely inaccessible. RapidRespond was built to close that gap.

What it does

RapidRespond is a mobile app that connects people in medical emergencies with nearby individuals carrying life-saving medication like epinephrine (EpiPens) or naloxone.

Users can register what they carry, and in an emergency, a single button press sends a real-time alert to others nearby. Responders can see the request, navigate to the location, and deliver aid—often faster than traditional emergency services.

How we built it

We built RapidRespond using Swift for the iOS app and Firebase as our backend. Firebase handles real-time data synchronization, user management, and push notifications, allowing alerts to be broadcast instantly to nearby users.

Challenges we ran into

Setting up iOS development and connecting it to Firebase took significant time, especially getting reliable phone-to-phone communication working. Push notifications were another hurdle, as they require enrollment in the Apple Developer Program, which takes 2 days.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud that RapidRespond turns everyday people into potential lifesavers.

Built a working real-time alert system
Reduced the “time to help” from minutes to potentially seconds
Created an intuitive interface that works under pressure
Framed a real-world problem into a scalable solution

Most importantly, we took a tragic, preventable scenario and turned it into something actionable.

What we learned

Through Building the RapidRespond application, we learned a plethora of frontend and backend tools. One of the first tools we learned how to use was firebase. Firebase is a free google cloud database that allows files to be stored and accessed from several devices. Firebase serves as the middleman in our project, and it receives files from our IOS devices when an SOS request is sent, as well as when an SOS request is resolved. The backend of our code was developed in the swift language, which we gained knowledge of through watching YouTube tutorials and referencing AI. We added to our vibe coding skills by efficiently using Claude and Gemini to assist our project production.

What's next for RapidRespond

Next, for RapidRespond, our goal is to publish the app on the App Store and actively promote it across campus to maximize awareness and adoption. We strongly believe this application has the potential to make a meaningful impact by providing timely assistance during medical emergencies and critical situations.

Before releasing RapidRespond to the App Store, an essential step is implementing a reliable push notification system. Push notifications will allow the app to instantly alert users and responders in urgent situations, ensuring faster communication and more effective coordination.

We plan to expand beyond iOS to Android and other devices, making the network as wide and accessible as possible.