The UK’s #1 trending App comes to the US

On Thursday 5th January the #1 trending App in the UK wasn’t a social media apps or a game. It was citizenAID a new public safety app designed by four deeply experienced civilian and military clinicians to help the public save lives when there are multiple casualties from shooting, stabbing or bombing.

Within 48 hours from launch the citizenAID App was trending on both Google Play and iTunes as the number 1 App across all categories. The public’s interest in this topic sparked a million hits on the website in a day, 75K App downloads and 370K views on Facebook live. Wide interest from the public and industry in US has stimulated the development of a new version of the App specifically for the US, which has now been launched.

citizenAID is a national initiative in the UK and draws on the military’s experience that immediate actions by ‘bystanders’ can save lives following serious injury. The App directs users how to keep safe, how to organize the people around you and how to treat the types of injuries seen with shootings and terrorist bombings, even when no medical equipment is available. The improvisation of tourniquets and dressings is actively promoted.

Terrorist events all over the world have shown there is a realistic threat to public safety. The media have rightly asked what can the public do when caught up in such an incident. Feedback following the launch in UK shows the citizenAID App is viewed by the public as an empowering resource and a tool to help you to react effectively in the most difficult of circumstances.

The team behind this initiative originally designed the app for the British public with UK specific information. As a high number immediately downloaded the App in US, the team have produced a US version to ensure access to the correct emergency service contact number, the different US national public safety message (“RUN HIDE FIGHT”) and compliance with the STOP THE BLEED campaign.

Two of the authors behind the App are Sir Keith Porter and Brigadier Tim Hodgetts CBE.

“Having the knowledge & skills at the point of injury can prevent avoidable deaths.” Says Brigadier Tim Hodgetts CBE “the treatments we recommend in this app reflect those skills that can be applied by people without any medical training to save lives. The value of these skills has been clearly shown through year on year improvements in survival from serious combat injuries. These ‘unexpected survivors’ have depended on advances in hospital treatment. But more than this, they have depended on the skills of individual soldiers to allow the patient to reach hospital alive. This compares directly to the ability of the public to intervene with life-saving intervention. It is the rationale for citizenAID. We have a duty to transfer the hard won medical lessons from recent conflict to the wider benefit of our public.”

Sir Keith Porter adds to this sentiment “The greatest threat to a patient after serious injury is time. citizenAID provides the public with information to encourage prompt action that can genuinely save lives."

citizenAID has been developed as the philanthropic initiative of four UK military and civilian clinicians with deep experience of blast and gunshot injuries, in collaboration with medical charities and industry.
The BBC supported the launch of the free app with extensive national and international coverage. This led to 1 million hits on the website in a single day plus 370,000 views of the Facebook Live video interview. Within 48 hours the app was trending on both GooglePlay and iTunes as the number 1 App across all categories

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This release was published on openPR.