Solutions
The problem I originally chose was ‘How to advice new parents and children on paediatric first aid care?’
Although I still stand by this problem/question one hundred percent, the general route I wanted to go down was to focus on one niche thing. However, after further research, I have adapted my idea to suit the current situations of the world. I was trying to introduce the issue of not enough people knowing about first aid. The only time someone will get taught about medical care, as if they are in a medical job, need first aid as part of their job role, or are self-taught in it. Although it sounds like a wide, focused issue. I am trying to help a small amount of students tackle a wider problem if they see one school which has introduced first aid training then maybe other schools will start to think about it. Therefore, starting in a small area will identify the dangers and hopefully, make it into a larger platform.
When I conducted my research analysis I found competitors and companies who were inspirational to my idea and to the potential solution. I realised a big competitor was videos, as YouTube is a big International advertising station, there were over one hundred and seven, thousand videos that came up when I searched first aid. Now I understand that sometimes YouTube runs off tags and some of the videos would not have been anything to do with first aid, however, regardless of this number it is still very large. Moreover, to a parent, family member etc. whoever is looking to research into this problem, they would feel rather overwhelmed.
Another big competitor was the app store, there are hundreds of apps produced on first aid, healthy life etc. I could not think of a single thing that would help induce the learning of first aid, especially one that is not already out there. With an app’s unique selling points, I feel with the right categorisation, there are plenty of good first-steps in getting the app to go in the right direction and getting the app out there into the world of social/industry trends. “Design and writing of computer programmes… UK market is worth £35billion and has an annual growth rate of 15 percent. Leisure software sector is worth about £1billion.” (Howkins, 2001, 111) This problem could also be the most practical as an app, with the annual growth rate increasing every year, more people are downloading apps to manage their everyday life. However, I just do not feel there is much point in creating something that will not make much of an impact in the first aid world.
Although I wrote down LIVES and St John Ambulance as competitors, I actually learned a lot from them. This charity is led by a group of medical professionals who volunteer to go to medical emergencies and offer training on several types of first aid. LIVES also has more than seventy volunteer doctors, nurses and paramedics who respond to complex or traumatic 999 medical emergencies across Lincolnshire. paediatric first aid and emergency paediatric first aid courses. The training courses are called ‘QA LEVEL 3 AWARD’, the only thing I thought was a bit concerning, is the courses are typically only run for one to two days and the qualification will last for two to three years, depending on which one it is. Is this really enough time to study and be able to confidently perform first aid, especially on children? This got me thinking that maybe I should do something that involves quick computer generated responses. It would help in emergency situations and it would stop people from panicking, all they would need to do is access some kind of system that allows help straight away.
As I was unable to attend the Workshop which had the group ideation discussion, so in the next workshop and with the help of my tutor, we brainstormed some ideas that could be beneficial to the problem. The one that stuck out the most was an app for Alexa (Amazon Echo). This means, when you are in need of help or in an emergency, you can call out for Alexa and get her to read you instructions on what to do for certain first aid treatments. However, I thought it would be a good idea to research into this further, and unfortunately, the Red Cross has already thought of this idea. Coming up to a year ago, (April 2017) the British Red Cross launched a new educational tool that coincides with Amazons Alexa. This tool is in the form of an app and it allows Alexa to access lots of information which she speaks out loud, this is so people can use first aid in home of an emergency. (Click here to access the article)
There are several other short solutions that I think might be able to work, these are;
- An advertising campaign
- A series of workshops in local schools
- Series of web videos – tutorials, discussions etc.
- A campaign to get the law changed
In the end, I decided to pursue just the one concept result for this project, I have decided to pick a campaign to get the law changed. In the next post, I will dive further into the discussion and explain my rationing for this idea.
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