Kenya EMS (which I presume means Emergency Medical Services) sent out a tweet announcing that people will “now be able to call an ambulance at the touch of a button”.
You will now be able to call an ambulance at the touch of a button.Thanks to the new #KRCSApp soon to be launched. pic.twitter.com/bFJNYYYCK6
— E-PLUS AMBULANCES KENYA (@EMS_Kenya) April 4, 2016
We expect the #KRSApp to go live on the Google Playstore and the Apple App Store on April 6, 2016 (that’s tomorrow), and based on screenshots, it appears to have a wide range of features asides from ambulance hailing. Users will be able to give blood, make monetary donations, undergo First-Aid training, keep up-to-date with goings on, volunteer and even apply to join the Red Cross Society.
This is great because just a few days ago, I was talking about how domain experts are falling over themselves to “uber-ify” their respective industries even though the on-demand model doesn’t always translate seamlessly across fields. But I’d totally download an ambulance hailing app because I think it’s a brilliant idea.
Emergency numbers in many countries in this part of the world aren’t as easy to remember as…911, for example. The amount of time it takes to get help can be cut down if we didn’t have to make a long string of calls before getting through to a Hospital or Police Station.
That’s what I think anyways.
Interesting. Not long ago, we found an app that offers a similar service in Lagos, Nigeria. It’s called Abeghelp.me, and I presume it’s still in beta. The developer, Osegz on DevCenter.co collated all the emergency phone numbers people are likely to need in Nigeria, and has condensed them into a single repository. More about that later.
