Revolutionary lifesaving app from Wavenet

Imagine you met with an accident or suddenly had a heart attack while on the road. What would you do? Who would you call? If you are conscious you might try to call out for help. But what if you are not aware of your location or not in a position to explain the directions to a caller agent of an ambulance service? During an emergency, minutes can make the difference between life and death.

Now you can have peace of mind. Falck, the world’s largest international ambulance service, in January of this year commenced Emergency Ambulance operations and Doctor-on-call services in Colombo.

Wavenet International, as its technological partner in Sri Lanka, was entrusted with engineering and implementing the software platform for the service locally. Falck Sri Lanka’s state-of-the-art response system is not only the most sophisticated ambulance service operating in Sri Lanka, but is now one of the most technologically modern and integrated ambulance services in the world.

Building on this platform, in another two months, Wavenet and Falck plan to release their newest lifesaving addition where Sri Lankans and tourists visiting will have access to emergency help even if they are not able to provide their address. With the introduction of the “Emergency 1990” android app, Falck’s Emergency Communication Centre will have the ability to identify a patient’s location and immediately respond to the distress call. The emergency medical dispatchers will see the caller’s exact location on a map, and this will save valuable time. Even if the caller does not know their location, or is unable to talk due to the emergency, Falck will have the information required to dispatch the closest medical teams. The app and the IT solution, which will bring about this change, are powered by Wavenet International, a leading supplier of IT solutions and value-added service platforms for the telecommunications industry in Sri Lanka and the region.

Falk Sri Lanka MD /CEO Donnie Woodyard Jr., outlined how the service works: “In an emergency, anyone can call Falck’s designated hotline number ‘1990’ for immediate assistance in three languages, 24 hours a day. When a registered member calls for help, our dispatchers immediately see their complete profile including the address of their home and office, their medical history, medical allergies, and any special instructions. Based on this information, our Emergency Medical Dispatchers use GPS technology to dispatch the closest ambulances to the location, while also providing lifesaving pre-arrival instructions over the phone. While the ambulance is responding, the medical team already is alerted to any allergies or significant medical problems.”

“The ‘Emergency 1990’ app will take our system to the next level. Even without having to ask for the caller’s location, we will be able to see their location on our map. This not only reduces errors, frustration, and anxiety, it also saves critical time and allows an ambulance to be dispatched immediately,” he said.

“All of our ambulances meet the European Union ambulance standards, and are essentially mobile hospitals. In addition to the ambulances, we also have launched Sri Lanka’s first fleet of motorcycle response units. During peak traffic periods, these motorbikes are also dispatched. Each motorcycle ambulance has a trained Emergency Medical Technician and all of the required medical equipment required to provide initial services until the ambulance arrives.”

“We have also implemented the first SMS-based membership system that is quick, easy, and affordable. Anyone with a Dialog, Etisalat, or Mobitel mobile phone can activate a membership instantly by simply sending REG by SMS to 1990. Immediately after the registration, a caller agent will contact the client and ask for their address, basic medical history, and family member details,“ Woodyard Jr. explained.  Wavenet CEO Suren Pinto stated: “This is a state of the art ambulance service that is on par with modern emergency services that are available in western countries. We worked intricately with Falck in conceptualising and building this platform for the service. We shared lot of local insight and knowledge that aided Faclk to fine-tune this service for the local market.”

He also went onto to state that both parties are working together to expand and improve the service for the public in the future.