IPhone Saves Filmmaker’s Life in Haiti

Here’s some uplifting news amid the tragedy that is Haiti. According to a story filed by MSNBC and picked up by Wired, a US filmmaker who was buried under a pile of rubble owes his life to an iPhone app.

Dan Woolley was shooting a documentary about the impact of poverty in Haiti when the earthquake struck. He claims that he would have died trapped under the debris had it not been for an iPhone first-aid app that taught him to treat his wounds.

After being crushed by a pile of rubble, Woolley took refuge in an elevator shaft. There he followed instructions from an iPhone first-aid app to fashion a bandage and tourniquet for his leg and to stop the bleeding from his head wound, according to the MSNBC story.

The app even warned Woolley not to fall asleep if he felt he was going into shock, so he set his cellphone’s alarm clock to go off every 20 minutes. Sixty-five hours later, a French rescue team saved him.

For more about this story, go to the MSNBC website, which also includes a video interview of Woolley. And if you’re interested in learning about ways in which mobile phones are being used to bring healthcare services to some of the poorest parts of the planet, read my editorial on emdt.co.uk titled Healthcare for the Poor? There’s an App for That.

Tags: app, first-aid app, Haiti, iPhone