Giving Compass' Take:

• Futurity highlights a new tool called “Panacea’s Cloud” that could give first responders a way to communicate during a natural or human-made disaster when devices such as cell phones may not work.

• How will you respond during a crisis? How can donors help fund research and technology such as this?

• Here's how philanthropy can take action for disaster resilience.

“In situations where there is no cell phone signal, you can take our device—protected in a custom waterproof and crushproof case—and set up clear communications within a range of one or two city blocks, or we can set up multiple devices for communication in a larger, more regional setting,” says Prasad Calyam, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science and the director of the Cyber Education and Research Initiative in the University of Missouri College of Engineering.

The self-contained communication tool provides support—wireless internet, a phone network, and internet-based data storage and processing—for first-responders in a disaster situation operating from separate organizations, allowing them to communicate in one cohesive manner.

Using smart technology, such as eyewear, Panacea’s Cloud will give first-responders the ability to relay real-time information, such as location, to other responders on the scene or medical professionals nearby.

Data—such as real-time, high-definition video streams—will populate a dashboard, allowing agencies to select and filter the most relevant information from the scene, such as an emergency room learning the extent of injuries for incoming patients. Designers subjected the dashboard to a real-life exercise and it showed high usability for those who would benefit most from using this tool.

Read the full article about communicating during natural disasters by Eric Stann at Futurity.