Communication chaos after the February 2011 earthquake has led to a Christchurch GP developing an app to quickly message staff in emergencies.
Phil Hamilton, the GP entrepreneur working with app developer Jeremy Wyn-Harris, decided to widen the app so it could also be used to take the stress out of finding relief nurses, GP locums, and other health professional staff on short notice.
Hamilton says he was holidaying in Golden Bay when the February 22 quake hit, and with jammed phone lines, it was very difficult to track people down to find what was happening and what help was needed.
“It became very obvious that the most reliable way of communicating at the time was by text,” says Hamilton. Which led him and others to think how good it would have been if the district health board, PHO, or civil defence had had the capacity to “fire off a text” to all doctors or nurses telling them where and when they could be of help.
The idea stayed at the back of his mind, and while watching their sons play cricket one day, he struck up a conversation with Wyn-Harri, a software developer, who said developing such an app was not that difficult to do.
Once underway in developing an app set up for major emergencies, they realised that such emergencies might only happen once every 50 years, so the app needed an everyday application to keep it operational and current.
The result was the AcuteCrew website and an app that is available to download for free. It is designed to message staff in emergencies and there is also the hope that it will help take the stress out of practices and hospitals finding relief staff.
“I know in general practice we have quite a bit of trouble if someone calls in sick. You hope somebody knows somebody who can cover,” says Hamilton. “You can end up having somebody tied up for hours on end phoning through a list of names finding somebody who can work.”
The app seeks to speed up the process with one push of a button by setting off an automatic process of emailing or texting each registered relief staff member at five minute intervals until someone responds to say they are available.
“But it is only early days yet and whether it works or not depends on how many potential employees you can get enrolled on the database.”
He believes it may be of appeal to nurses seeking minimal hours to keep up their competency requirements.
Unlike a nursing bureau, AcuteCrew is just an app connecting potential employees and employers, and Hamilton says it is up to employers to vet an employees CV and registration status.
The practice or employer, based on their confidential preference, sets the order in which people are contacted. Likewise, the relief staff can confidentially input the employers in order of preference and chose not to get messages from some employers.
“I think it’s the way of the future – whether it happens now or in ten years time – I think it is inevitable that (short term relief staff employment) is going to be done this way at some stage. For us it depends entirely on how many people get on the database – it’s just a matter of whether people are ready for it now.”
Currently the app is free to both employees and employers wanting to register, but as the AcuteCrew database grows, the team would look to charge employers, based on their size and usage, but it would remain free for potential employees to register.
