U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has revealed the winners of its Facebook Lifeline Application Challenge. The contest challenged software application developers to create an app that could establish connections in the event of an emergency.
First-place winners Evan Donahue and Erik Stayton (Team ALP) developed an app called Lifeline. According to DHHS, the app "allows Facebook friends to collaborate on
tracking the user’s status in a disaster-affected area so these friends
can easily find the user’s lifelines and contact them to report that
the user is safe or if the user appears to be missing." It also features a news feed and links to resources. DHHS says the app will launch within months.
Second place went to team JAMAJIC 360, which included David Vinson, Erick Rodriguez, Gregg Orr and Garth Winckler.And, the third-place prize went to the app called AreYouOk?, developed by TrueTeamEffort, which included 11 University of Illinois students led by Alex Kirlik.
A Blog From the American Society of Safety Engineers