Hey guys I’m sorry to have to apologize again for the slow response. I was monitoring this thread every day but I didn't realize more people were posting until I saw a link to go to the 2nd page. I've read through all the comments and I'm going to try to address them all now. Thank you guys so much for your comments, suggestions, and questions.
Twinturbo:
The app started by wanting to help people (anyone) in emergency situations by connecting them to off-duty EMTs, medical personnal, and other responders. I realized that trying to help everyone is a bit lofty, especially before launching, so I'm trying to focus in on the use cases that could give the most benefit. Its good to know you use an ER finder app. I was planning on implementing that kind of feature in my app but if people like you are already using it then maybe it's not necessary to duplicate it. Also I think I really like that egg-timer idea.
PurpleCat
Thanks for your feedback and questions. I agree that you and your child always carry injectors with you, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from doing that or from calling 911. In the "work flow" of the app I envision people always calling 911 before using my app, however sometimes 911 can’t help taking too long to get to the scene. The point of the app is to connect with responders that are nearby who could quickly offer assistance. Its great to hear more about how valuable medical history data is. I was thinking of adding this feature into version 2 of the app but if you think it's critical then perhaps it should be a version 1 feature.
SilverLining
Thanks for getting back to me. Do you by any chance know if the company stores his medical supplies and tells him what to pack or if he is in charge of that himself?
GoingNuts
That is mostly correct. The point of the app is to alert nearby off-duty responders who wouldn't get the 911 alert, but the option to alert 911 will be a part of the work flow of the app. The app could be used for a lot of situations but I think trying to help everyone is a bit of a lofty goal and anaphylaxis feels like a use case with the potential to do some of the most good.
Macabre
Thanks for bringing up liability. I don't know much about Canadian law but I am talking to a lawyer who specializes in this good samaritan law in the USA. The lawyer says that people could not be held liable for administering an epiPen but we have just started talking and I will keep you posted as I find out more. From what I hear from the EMTs I talked to, there have been very few cases of good samaritans being sued and 0 cases of them being sued successfully. I know that in an emergency there are potential risks to the responders on multiple fronts and I’m trying hard to find ways to mitigate those risks by looking at how other organizations, like 911, handle risk. One consideration I’m weighing is to forget about people with eipPens and focus on responders who carry Benadryl or something similar. I've talked to some EMTs about how they respond to anaphylaxis and they said the most important part or responding is to get the patient an anti-histamine, such as Benadryl, which doesn’t carry the same liability since it is an over the counter drug. Even if both of those ideas seem too risky though responders can still be protected by preforming first aid, CPR, and using an AED if necessary.
The app will be free to send and receive alerts. I’ve come up with few potential ways of recovering my cost that I still need to vet, but I will not be selling user data or advertising on the app. I don't have a food allergy. Most of what I know about LTFA comes from my friends, people in the community, or personal research. I've also taken 1st aid, CPR, and AED training which covered anaphylaxis.
That is interesting to know about the situation with the ER vs EMT. Did the EMT know you had injected yourself? I've heard that insurance companies always have to cover the cost of an ambulance in the USA. I hate to ask about location information online and if you prefer you can PM me, but did the incident you described take place in Canada or the USA?
Thanks for sharing your story from universal studios. My takeaway from that is that a map of places to replenish your epinephrine supply is going to be a critical feature. The study you linked to is also interesting, I’m going to have to review this with my EMT friends to see why this is. If you can think of anymore suggestions, comments, or questions I would love to hear them.
Sneaker
Thanks for mentioning that some people have special circumstances that prevent them from carrying an epiPen. I can think of a few types of people, like my cousin, who would not be able to carry or administer their own medication. I would love to spend a few moments brain storming with you about what kind of people would not be able to carry or administer their own epiPen?
hedgehog
Good point about teenagers. This may be a useful segment to focus on. I'm going to look into this a lot more, especially because SilverLining brought up a good point earlier that this app may discourage people from carrying their epi. If teens are already not carrying their epi with them this app could be useful, but if they are still carrying their epi most of the time I want to be sure that I'm not encouraging them to not carry their epi.
CMdeux
That is a great point. I still don't know how I'm going to recover cost but I do hope that I can recover enough to reimburse people for using their epiPens. It also came up in this thread that I should have a map of places where you would be able to get a new epiPen. I know that doesn’t alleviate all the tension from using your epi to help someone else so I’ll working on ways to mitigate the risks of the responders. Thanks for the great link! Any chance you know of other stories like this?