Public safety
Vitals Aware Services
Three mobile apps, a website, and a cloud platform that help police officers safely interact with people who have invisible vulnerabilities, such as autism.
- Mobile
- Cloud
- Bluetooth
The challenge
People with invisible vulnerabilities, such as disabilities or mental health conditions, can struggle to communicate with emergency responders in high-pressure situations, and misunderstandings can escalate. The idea for Vitals came from Officer Rob Zink of the Saint Paul Police Department, a father of two children with autism, who brought it to the Autism Society of Minnesota.
What we built
- → An officer app that alerts police when they are near someone carrying a Vitals beacon and shows caregiver-provided information: medical details, de-escalation strategies, and emergency contacts.
- → An app that turns a vulnerable person's phone into the beacon itself.
- → A caregiver app to keep that information current, get notified when an interaction with first responders happens, and get an alert if their loved one goes beyond 80 feet.
- → The cloud platform behind it, plus the public website and e-commerce store.
The result
Emergency responders now have a more meaningful way to help people with invisible vulnerabilities, caregivers have peace of mind, and the people Vitals serves keep more of their independence.
“We found that by partnering with Lab651 the caliber of engineers was higher, the creativity was greater, delivery times were less and the quality of the solution delivered was higher than we could have done on our own.”