This is a good one. An online management tool for emergency response teams. Its a webapp (Whatever that means) - but more importantly its a real application that solves real problems.

I do not have enough knowledge of this niche to comment on the functionality beyond saying it does a hell of a lot of useful things…

• Manage rescue team communications.

• Organise schedules.

• Track incidents, training etc….

• Great activity recording screens.

• And as is necessary with all management applications, whether we like it or not, excellent reporting.

See http://www.decisionsforheroes.com/tour/ for more on the features.

What would I do differently?

HIGHLIGHT RELIABILITY - as with all management tools, uptime and availability is cruuuuuucial. Bytesurgery want rescue teams all over the world to depend on Decisionforheros.com to influence how they work, to help them make the right decisions, and eventually, to save lives.

But what if it goes down?

“What if I can’t contact my team through the site and have to go looking for god damn phone numbers?” “Who in my team is the best person to handle a suspected back injury?” “Where the hell is everyone?”

If this tool is to become a key part of the decision making process within Rescue Organisations, it must be 24X7 - No excuses. Looking at the terms of service for the site…

“Technical support is only provided to paying account holders and may only available via email” [sic] - This doesn’t sound like a tool I want to trust with lives.

I know this is critical, but the current DecisionsForHeros.com could be the no-brainer decision for rescue teams all over the world. Putting myself in the shoes of the customer, at the moment, I would say that I need to look at alternatives first, who knows, I could be back…

I want DecisionsForHeros.com to be that one dominant force for Rescue Teams on the web because I think it can lead to better rescues. Look at the potential for skills transfer between these teams if they all happen to have this website in common. The site could be expanded to drive these partnerships (Social Networking for Heros) and as a result, market itself further.

And on that, why do Voluntary teams need to pay for the site. No voluntary organisation is going to hold that meeting that approves that signup and expenditure (albeit tiny) without Bytesurgery (who built D4H) having to make a significant sales effort. But there is a free trial option… Oh hold on, you need to request this via a form.

Why?

I cannot imagine any logic that makes sense - It actually angers me. Open it up! Allow everyone a free trial. Why not? Let it sell itself. Let it sneak into rescue organisations through the overambitious pup who wants to take credit for modernising the team. Don’t put barriers in the way.

And while you’re at it, allow every organisation free usage indefinitely up to a specific team size. Let the volunteers of the world sell the product when they meet their professional counterparts.

And Finally… what about an off shoot of the site’s function. What about a D4H for Disasters… Tsunami, Earthquakes. Who handles the distribution of tents, blankets, food, medical aid in the immediate aftermath of these disasters? Doesn’t a web app sound like the perfect answer?

(This is way late for the Tuesday Push and a bit unstructured.
But in the time I had, I really wanted to make an effort
for this App - Its a good one.)