Red Cross works with JWT to offer mobile first aid

Users can alert first aid-trained volunteers within a two-kilometre radius while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Launched in Singapore recently, the app will be rolled out across key Asian countries later in the year.

The idea for the initiative came out of the Young Spikes creative competition last year, which is organised by JWT.

Jun Fukawa, chief creative officer at JWT Singapore, said the agency was “extremely excited to partner with the Red Cross" on the project. "It’s a great example of how smartphone technology and location-based software can be used to help aid organisations deliver assistance when and where it is needed the most.”

It capitalises on tens of thousands of people across Singapore trained in first aid. Individuals who have been certified by the Red Cross can register through the mobile app as Rapid Rescue volunteers. 

In an emergency, a few taps through the app’s menu will send out an alert to registered volunteers within a two-kilometer range of the victim, using location-based software. Victims can also use the app to summon an ambulance.

Volunteers can choose to respond with two taps of the Rapid Rescue app on their own iPhone. The app then maps out the shortest route to the victim.

Tee Tua Ba, chairman of Singapore Red Cross, noted that the association would be able to deliver first aid even faster to the community with the app, and that it would potentially make a difference between life and death for victims in an emergency.

Credits
Regional executive creative director Tay Guan Hin
Chief creative officer Jun Fukawa
Executive creative director Valerie Cheng
Creative director Parixit Bhattacharya
Digital associate creative director Alan Leong
Art director Karan Dang, Celeste Ang
Copywriter Parixit Bhattacharya
Copywriter Karan Dang
Digital producer Siti Nuraini