What is it
Our whole region is living in an ongoing state of terrorism. Any terror attack in big cities like Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore results in chaos, panic and terror.
So we ‘the IT ppl’ need to come up with a website which can help the whole community. The website will consist of the following sections:
1) Emergency numbers of hospitals, Edhi House or any other concerned departments; where people can inquire about their loved ones.
2) Hospital staff should be in touch with this website, so that if they require blood or anything else from the public; they can request or post for help.
3) Live Twit Section:
a) A live twit section where people can report useful information they have regarding what city routes to follow and what routes not to follow in case of riots.
b) Cell phone and Land line phone network usually jams when such incidents happens in the city, but usually people stuck in the offices have access to the internet. So this section can also serve as a message board for relatives or loved ones.
4) Phone numbers of Transport services for example; Red Cab, Star cab etc. So that if one is stuck at a place where no public transport is available. They can hire their services.
5) News ticker of Geo, Aaj, Dawn etc. To get in depth coverage of whats actually happening in the city.
6) Google Map application indicating the areas that are suffering from the incident to provide a clear picture.
Why is it needed
We should always prepare for the worst and pray to the Almighty for the safety of our Country, City and loved ones.
Where is the money
There are things that we do for the community and no money can buy that.
November 28th, 2008 at 5:02 am #Teeth Maestro
Ammar
Im already in the works – three projects need to be launched in preparation
1- an SMS network – frontlinesms.com – which ties into a mass SMS mailing as well as agregation of reports
2- an incident reporting network – ushahidi.com – im in talk with them to set this up [beta test] for Pakistan
3- A people finder – in case people go missing / killed etc – [im forgetting web link] -and have emailed the guru who set the People Finder up in the 2005 earthquake
4- Ive also talked to a guy for subscribing to a Short code SMS number – today
more needs to be done and added
Though we have had a limited mailing list for digital activists in Pakistan projects like these I think its time to activate them – those interested – please DM me on twitter http://twitter.com/drawab
or email me – PS get the link from the about page on my blog – i dont wanna get spam ;)
http://teeth.com.pk/blog/about
though sorry for the delay in updating you all – but Ill start the launch – tomorrow morning – promise
November 28th, 2008 at 1:29 pm #Sohail Abid
Awab, its a relief to know someone is already working on it. Do keep us updated and let us know here if you need any kind of (technical or other) help in this.
We can continue the discussion here to refine the idea and find an optimized solution…
November 28th, 2008 at 4:32 pm #Teeth Maestro
Ammar -
I ve just kicked off a discussion group so people can join in an participate and help develop and evolve this project – one man alone cant do it – it needs any able Pakistani to pitch in ‘for the nation’
Pakistan Emergency Network: http://groups.google.com.pk/group/Pk-EN
it is a restricted group since I believe the core group must be a reliable team – if anyone needs a recommendation please submit in the google group form so we can look further
November 28th, 2008 at 6:10 pm #aMmAr
Thats a great initiative Doc, I have signed up for the group. The projects that you have mentioned sound very promising. But I believe that all these services should be on one platform. From personal experience we all have different source which we utilize in emergency. The idea should be to bring all the networks and services together.
PS: I have joined the group. waiting for moderators approval :)
November 28th, 2008 at 10:43 pm #Hassan Abbas
2- an incident reporting network – ushahidi.com – im in talk with them to set this up [beta test] for Pakistan
dont know abt the rest but if this can be done then it would be easy for us to notify abt the incidents
December 7th, 2008 at 1:18 am #rabia garib
Hey Awab,
Is there a way to get an emergency frequency for FM Radio? It’s a bit outdated but at times, the radio can be a very reliable tool.