SAN RAMON, CA ‐ International Data Group’s (IDG) Computerworld Honors Program announced
San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District as a 2011 Laureate for Innovation. The annual award program honors visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic and educational change. The District was selected for its iPhone application that provides immediate, life‐saving assistance to victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest by crowd‐sourcing Good Samaritans.
“The number and quality of nominations this year was very inspiring and demonstrated how valuable IT is to community change,” said John Amato, Publisher, Computerworld. “Computerworld is very proud to name the 2011 class of Laureates and showcase their initiatives benefiting society through innovative uses of IT.”
“The application is initially targeting the approximately 300,000 people who suffer out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest each year in the United States,” said Richard Price, Fire Chief for the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. “Numerous investigations have shown that bystander CPR results in a doubling or tripling of patient survival, yet CPR rates across the country have remained unacceptably low at around 26%. The application aims to improve this percentage by immediately alerting everyday citizens to the need for CPR nearby while also directing them to public access defibrillators when available.”
The Computerworld Honors awards will be presented at the Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony & Gala Awards on June 20, 2011 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C.
The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District is an internationally‐accredited special district that provides all‐risk fire, rescue and emergency medical services to the communities of Alamo, Blackhawk, the Town of Danville, Diablo, the City of San Ramon, the southern area of Morgan Territory and the Tassajara Valley, in Northern California (Contra Costa County). The District’s service area encompasses approximately 155 square miles and serves a population of 170,000. The District has established a foundation to assist other public safety agencies to deploy the application in their community.
The application was developed in partnership with the Center for Applied Informatics at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). For additional web and print resources, including sample screen shots, supporting images and video please visit the Fire Department iPhone App landing page at http://www.firedepartment.mobi. A Public Service Announcement (PSA) video to raise local awareness about the application is also available on the site.
About Computerworld Honors Program
Founded by International Data Group (IDG) in 1988, The Computerworld Honors Program is governed by the not‐for‐profit Computerworld Information Technology Awards Foundation. Computerworld Honors is the longest running global program to honor individuals and organizations that use information technology to promote positive social, economic and educational change. Additional information about the program and a Global Archive of past Laureate case studies and oral histories of Leadership Award recipients can be found HERE at the Computerworld Honors website.
