Figure 1 was built to serve members of the medical community. It was developed to share unique medical conditions and discuss diseases amongst doctors, nurses, and students.
Healthcare professionals, from all levels, doctors to even students, are invited to share and discuss conditions and diseases.
The Figure 1 website does not specify how the development of the system was funded.
Verified members can post pictures of patient's, tests, equipment, or images as long as there is not patient identifying information. All members of figure one are encouraged to comment and discuss the condition or test in the picture.
Users can access the site from a computer or there is an app available for smart phones.
This system would be difficult to work with because it publicises patient's conditions even if it does not directly identify who they are. Some of the diseases or conditions these patients are faced with can be considered humiliating and while the intent of the app is to be educational, a healthcare professionals are faced with the ethical decision as to whether or not post the picture of their patient. A guideline Figure 1 outlines is that before taking and posting a picture the provider should have consent from the patient. Hospitals, clinics, agency, ect. are also faced with whether to allow their members to engage in these activities as patient confidentiality could be called into question.
This organization seeks to provide emergency medical services to community members of Bed-Stuy, an area seeing disproportionate levels of physical violence and trauma. Before BSVAC the average ambulatory response time to the city was approximately 30 minutes, gravely eating into the "Golden hour" trauma patients are allowed. In light of this, two EMS workers chose to start a volunteer EMS agency to provide emergency care to the city, expose community members to careers in EMS, and teach BLS skills to residents.
The founding members were Bed-Stuy residents Captain James "Rocky" Robinson and Specialist Joe Perez. Since then, membership has extended to other EMS personnel, the majority of whom are also Bed-Stuy residents. This is also the first multi-cultural ambulatory agency and seeks to provide meaningful careers to Bed-Stuy residents
The agency itself is an illustration of emergency response; before BSVAC ambulance response time averaged around thirty minutes-- a far cry from the standard eight minutes aimed for by ambulatory agencies around the Capital region. The original goal of BSVAC was to cut down these times, thereby increasing patient outcomes and creating a sense of safety in a community rippling with gang and drug violence. In addition to this initial goal, BSVAC also reaches out to the surrounding community, teaching CPR, first-aid, and BLS to Bed-Stuy residents. This aids in emergency response, as CPR and first-aid measures can be delivered quickly to a patient even before the ambulance arrives.
The organization of the group came from within the areas riddled with violence. As their commander is quoted in an article about the 27th anniversary, "People in the 'hood' had no chance. We had to wait for someone who did not look like us to come and save our lives." Commander Robinson is credited with starting the organization in an attempt to decrease wait times for emergency services in Bed-Stuy. Additionally, he and other ambulatory members regularly run EMT courses, aimed at pulling youth away from drug and gang related activities, providing them with an education and a future career. The agency, in many ways, has helped save multiple community members from a short and terrible life marked by violence.