Vodafone Foundation, tinyDavid Limited launch emergency application

Accra, Aug. 5, GNA - Vodafone Ghana Foundation in collaboration with tinyDavid Limited on Tuesday launched a mobile application dubbed: 'CodeRed,' to reduce emergency response times and make location of victims during emergency faster and accurate.

The application was developed from tinyDavid's 'SnooCode' application to make the National Ambulance Service (NAS) locate victims easily and accurately even in situations where there is no internet connection.

The Foundation launched the application in partnership with the Service in Accra.

Lord Michael Hastings, a Trustee of the Vodafone Group Foundation said the initiative presents a great stroke of inspiration in helping to decrease the mortality rate in Ghana.

'It is in every way a representation of what we stand for as a company; it shows our commitment to be consistently interested in the well-being of the communities in which our workers live and work', he said.

Lord Hastings said the Foundation is reiterating its promise to invest more into the communities it serve, reach out to people in need and promote high standards in the telecommunication industry.

'We are excited about government's endorsement and support for this initiative that will improve lives and bring smiles to thousands of people in the country'.

Ms Dorothy Gordon, Director General of Kofi Annan IT Centre, said Ghanaians have the mentality that they cannot develop any such technology and therefore resort to importing such ideas.

She therefore expressed gratitude to the Foundation for supporting the project; stressing that she believes other bodies would emulate the example of the Foundation.

Professor Ahmed Nuhu Zakaria, Director General of Ghana NAS advised Ghanaians to take advantage of the available technology and also partner countries to use it to secure the health and safety of its people.

Prof Nuhu Zakaria said: 'Just partner with us and emergency healthcare will be at everyone's doorstep. If other countries are providing quick ambulance service in five minutes, we will provide it in three minutes, provided we get support from everyone'.

Mr Peter Grzic, EVD Emergency Coordinator, World Health Organisation, Ghana said it takes adventure to locate one's way to a place in Ghana especially when the person is a foreigner because the road and area identification is poor.

He noted that due to this, it makes it difficult for emergency aid organisations including the NAS to operate; hence the need for the application.

Mr Grzic advised the public to download the application and use it to secure their own safety and health.

Mr Sesinam Dagadu, Chief Executive Officer of tinyDavid Limited said the unfortunate lack of addressing system in Ghana is a serious hindrance to the services offered by emergency service providers.

He said as part of Vodafone's Mobile For Good competition, tinyDavid was awarded a grant to use the SnooCode app to help the NAS improve their services.

He noted that the team added enhanced features to SnooCode to develop a purpose-built app for the NAS known as CodeRed.

Mr Dagadu explained that the code generated for every individual is unique and secure; hence no two places have the same sequence of numbers and letters.

He said the code is easy to memorise because it only requires the user to know the alphabet and the numbers two to nine making it accessible to users with low levels of literacy.

'The CodeRed system works even without the internet, thereby, making it convenient for use even in the most remote areas in Ghana', he said.

He asked the public to download the SnooCode application from their app or play store and follow direction to get access to the CodeRed.

TinyDavid Ghana Limited is a technological solutions firm that exists to provide innovative ways of solving problems that affect people especially in the developing world and SnnoCode is a unique code mobile application that generates a unique location and direction code for people.

GNA