Unlike many traditional first-aid apps, which primarily serve as reference guides and provide lengthy texts, “helpingHand” takes a much more practical approach. Users simply enter the symptoms they have observed, such as shortness of breath, pain or changes in consciousness. The app analyses this input and immediately provides specific, structured steps to follow. In doing so, it takes on one of the most difficult tasks for laypeople: matching symptoms to a possible clinical picture.
The benefits are twofold. On the one hand, those affected receive the correct measures more quickly, which can be a matter of life and death in an emergency. On the other hand, first aiders themselves benefit: a clearly structured procedure reduces stress, provides reassurance and prevents valuable time from being lost due to uncertainty or fear. It is precisely this combination of practical help and psychological relief that makes the app’s approach particularly relevant.
It is important to note, however, that the app is not a substitute for professional medical care. It serves solely as a support until the emergency services arrive.
But how does such an idea come about, and what considerations lie behind its implementation? We spoke to Simon Ittensammer, the app’s developer and an employee at SIWA Online GmbH, about this.
#schongenial: What inspired you to develop a first aid app?
Simon Ittensammer: After completing my training at the HTL, I did my community service as a paramedic with the Upper Austrian Red Cross. During that time, and afterwards too, when I continued to work as a volunteer paramedic, I repeatedly saw that first aiders are often completely overwhelmed in emergencies.
Many people want to help, but simply don’t know what the correct actions are in a specific situation. Added to this is often the fear of doing something wrong and perhaps even causing harm. Unfortunately, this uncertainty frequently leads to people not helping at all, or only doing so very hesitantly.
#schongenial: What specific situations does your app cover, and where does it offer the greatest benefit?
Simon Ittensammer: The app focuses very clearly on acute medical emergencies. A typical example would be sudden breathing difficulties, but many other critical situations are also covered.
It’s very important to me to make a clear distinction here: the app is intended solely as a support tool. It does not replace medical advice, diagnosis or treatment by qualified professionals. Its purpose is to provide first aiders with guidance during those crucial minutes before the emergency services arrive.
In my opinion, the greatest benefit lies in two points. Firstly, the patient is helped immediately through the correct measures, which can have a positive impact on the course of an emergency. Secondly, the structured procedure ensures that first aiders act in a calmer and more focused manner.
#schongenial: How do you ensure that the content is medically accurate?
Simon Ittensammer: When creating the content, I consistently followed the guidelines for paramedics at the Upper Austrian Red Cross. These provide a sound and practical foundation that I could rely on.
#schongenial: How do you design an app that is easy to understand even in stressful situations?
Simon Ittensammer: A key focus during development was to simplify the user interface as much as possible. In an emergency, there’s no time to click through menus or try to understand complex structures. That’s why I deliberately avoided typical elements such as tab bars or multiple navigation levels, as seen in apps like WhatsApp or Instagram. Instead, when the user opens the app, they essentially see just a single input field that takes up the entire screen.
This minimises the risk of user error and ensures that you know immediately what to do. As soon as a symptom is entered, the appropriate actions appear straight away. Other functions have been deliberately moved to the background and are only accessible via a small menu button. The aim was to keep the cognitive load as low as possible and to guide the user intuitively through the situation.
#schongenial: What feedback have you received from users so far?
Simon Ittensammer: The feedback has been consistently positive so far. Many users particularly appreciate the app’s ease of use and clear structure.
#schongenial: What was the biggest challenge during development, in terms of technology or content?
Simon Ittensammer: The biggest challenge was to transform the existing content from the teaching materials into a format that a digital system could work with. The information was originally presented in detailed text form. For the app, however, this content had to be converted into a structured data model that allows symptoms, clinical pictures and measures to be logically linked together.
This step was very demanding both technically and conceptually, because the data had to be prepared in such a way that it could be analysed quickly, reliably and meaningfully.
#schongenial: What role does AI play in this app?
Simon Ittensammer: In principle, artificial intelligence can certainly provide helpful support in emergency situations and offer similar recommendations for action. However, I deliberately decided against it in my project. One key reason is that the app is designed to work entirely offline, which is often difficult to achieve with AI solutions.
Furthermore, with language models such as ChatGPT, there is always a certain residual risk that incorrect or inaccurate information will be generated. Even though this risk is small, I wanted to avoid it as far as possible in an area as sensitive as first aid. In my view, a clearly rule-based, algorithmic solution allows for better control over the accuracy and traceability of the content.
#schongenial: Thank you very much for the interview and the fascinating insights.
