A free application provides emergency assistance with a network of volunteers trained in first aid

Helpers is both an NGO and a social impact start-up that forms a social network of volunteers trained to act in times of emergency and save lives. Born in 2017, she created a free mobile application that can be downloaded to any Android or iOS device. Through geolocation, the nearest volunteer is located, directed and the time of arrival is calculated.

The platform is based on the renowned Israeli public model of medical response, which develops scalable solutions using a scheme that combines geolocation technology with social awareness.

“Together we have transformed waiting into action to save lives and thanks to that we have already achieved this in more than 3,300 cases,” says Michael Rubinstein, its founder and CEO of the organization. “It's not about replacing mobile medical assistance, but about supporting them by multiplying the number of people able to provide first aid until the arrival of professionals. This is especially important because, according to the American Heart Association, we have ten minutes to save a person going through a cardiac event while the ambulance arrives. Sometimes, the attention you receive in those early moments makes the difference between life and death.”

“After the initial ten minutes of such an emergency, lack of oxygen to the brain causes damage that cannot be recovered,” Rubinstein adds. “This platform enables you to act in different types of emergencies and capitalize on those crucial first minutes while the ambulance arrives. When a person is ready in these situations, despair is transformed into action.”

Rubinstein lives in Israel. His career is marked by education and community leadership. He was also a first aid teacher at the Israel Red Cross. “In the main cities of Latin America, emergency services have an average response time of twenty or twenty-five minutes, and longer in remote areas. Almost a million people die from this every year. That's why we connect those who are experiencing an emergency and volunteers in real time through the app and we train in first aid. We also have an emotional health service,” he explains.

How it works

“Anyone who wants to be part of the solidarity network we form can download the application, which is free and gives access to assistance. The more people who have this communication tool, the more bond we can generate between those who need help and our volunteers trained in giving it,” says Gonzalo Martínez, who is 37 years old and lives in Montevideo, holds a degree in Management, a Master's Degree in Administration and Executive Director of Helpers.

The application has more than seventy thousand downloads in the world. It's intuitive, easy and quick to install. After accepting the terms and conditions, the user enters their mobile number and receives a verification code. The next step is to fill in the name and date of birth. The application then asks if you have a benefit code for Helpers+ (Helpers plus) that is paid content. It can be ordered or skipped. That's all. The two central buttons appear: “health emergency” and “emotional support” and you can see if there are volunteers trained in assistance active in an area around one kilometer.

In the event of a medical emergency, the user can trigger a “Helper event” with the health emergency button and leave an audio reporting the situation. The system notifies trained volunteers who are in the area and whoever is close to the area will attend while medical help arrives. In either case, an operator guides and accompanies to provide the greatest possible assistance. In the event that the emotional support button is used, a professional (psychologist or coach) contacts to activate personalized accompaniment.

“Anyone in Uruguay and Argentina, but soon in more countries in the region, can download the Helpers app for free and if they have a medical emergency or need emotional help, press a button. You will be able to receive a real hand in times of need. A classic example is a family that is on vacation and one of their children drowns in a pool. Ask for help and the forty closest people will receive a message, they will understand where it is and what happened and they will attend until the ambulance arrives,” Rubinstein says. “In the case of someone who feels very important anguish, sadness, stress, or who can't do it anymore, tap the emotional support button, fill out a form and the operator will talk to them to help them. You will always be accompanied by a person trained in first aid or by a psychologist or coach, as the case may be.”

First Aid Training

The proposal of this help network is that in addition to receiving free assistance from someone trained, we can all learn first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In that way, we become that person for others.

The network of Helpers in Uruguay and Argentina currently has nearly 17,000 people trained in first aid in more than four hundred organizations between the two countries. “From the moment of the incident until the ambulance arrives, volunteers start first aid or CPR maneuvers in more serious cases. In others, they prevent others from entering the scene of the incident and protect witnesses. For example, I see a car on fire. The idea is that people do not continue to get inside that car, but to call the right resources: fire, ambulance and civil defense. All this can be done by someone who trained to know what to do and what not to do. With tools that will serve him for the rest of his life.” The one who speaks is Miguel Iconomopulos. He is 52 years old, is an anesthesiology technician, lifeguard, teacher, fire coach, safety manager of a chain of gyms and a first aid and CPR instructor.

He met Helpers when the platform landed in Argentina. He joined as a volunteer and worked on setting up a course to train gym members. He continued to volunteer in different actions until the pandemic hit, which led to the development of emotional assistance. Together with five operators, on rotating shifts, they attended people who communicated through social networks and after assessing their needs, they were referred to a healthcare center or group of psychologists in the network.

“It was a hard work of months, with which we tried to help people who in many cases were alone, without work, in complicated family contexts,” she says. Today, Iconomopulos continues to be a volunteer and is in charge of the Department of Operations and Training for Argentina. It works on the implementation of a rapid identification system for defibrillators available in public and private places and on the dissemination of the application.

Helpers' vision is to have one volunteer trained in assistance in every home in the world. “Imagine if in every family there is a trained referent who can collaborate with the physical integrity and emotional well-being of others. This way we would take care of ourselves within our environments and our neighbors. We would have a much more caring, supportive and collaborative world,” Rubinstein says.

Solidarity as a goal

“Helpers was born as a technology NGO for voluntary training in first aid, facilitating access to help through the app. Then the social impact company was born, a start-up that aims at the sustainability of the model. The Helpers+ (helpers plus) part was created, which is what is marketed to companies to train their employees, as a benefit and as a corporate social responsibility. The NGO continues and is still in force, because within the application there are free first aid and emotional support services,” explains Gonzalo Martínez.

The NGO brings together professionals who assist in emotional support, help on an honorary basis and are embedded in a scheme that allows Helpers to work with them, empower them, train them, give them tools and visibility. They are part of a virtuous circle that feeds back.

“In our emotional support network there are 150 volunteers psychologists, psychiatrists, coaches and social workers. More than three thousand five hundred emotional support consultations have been attended at no cost. The aid consists of four half-hour instances in which a company is given one by one”, explains Martínez.

The Helpers model aligns with United Nations sustainable development goals such as good health and well-being and those of sustainable cities and communities. It is also endorsed by the leading academic institutions of first aid and CPR - the Argentine Resuscitation Council, the American Heart Association, Application Designs Improving Emergentology in Latin America (ADIEL) and Emergency Trauma Life Support Latin American Edition (ETLS) - and has partnerships with different companies, organizations, agencies and municipalities such as Almirante Brown and Morón, in the province of Buenos Aires.

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This note is part of the Solutions for Latin America platform, an alliance between INFOBAE and RED/ACTION.