Chennai

“We came up with a programme called VoICE (Volunteers in Case of Emergency) that bridges the gap between medical emergency and arrival of professional help with voluntary first response. This is done through a mobile application. It turns normal citizens today to superheroes saving lives tomorrow,” said Dileep Raj, secretary of the organisation.

How does it work? The team of ALERT, founded by Kala Balasundaram and managing trustee Rajesh Trivedi, has experts to train volunteers (anyone can apply) in everything from CPR and recovery positions to bleeding control, crowd management and situation leadership with a two-day intensive first aid training programme. 

“They are then given a comprehensive first-aid kit, first responder reflector jacket, joint certification by ALERT and Apollo Hospitals, and a lifesaver flash card. They live in all areas in the city,” they explained.

Whenever an emergency or accident occurs, a distress signal can be sent by any member of the public via the app to all the trained volunteers and the nearest one will respond. 

Dileep says, “As of now, the app is in pilot mode and we will launch the full version in September. Around 300 people will be trained by then and the plan is to increase the number in the months to come. We took inspiration from former President APJ Abdul Kalam who advised us that there should be one person trained in first-aid in every family across India. That is our goal.”

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