Flare, an emergency services app, is set to launch this month in Kenya. The app is revolutionary in Kenya. The country’s ambulance services are primarily run through private companies that can take up to two hours to reach a patient in dire need of medical care. Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, revolves around mobile orders.
Taxi hailing, dinner from a restaurant and even groceries can be ordered via an app in Kenya.
Flare will open the door for Kenyans to order an ambulance directly from their phones. The city has 20 emergency rooms and more than 100 ambulances that operate for the 3 million residents in Nairobi.
The city has ample ambulance service, with roughly 1 ambulance per 30,000 people. The country’s slow ambulance process is due to a lack of proper systems in place. A person may call the police dispatcher’s number that may or may not work. The dispatcher is then responsible for calling the ambulance.
Ambulances aren’t outfitted with navigation systems, so it’s not uncommon for ambulance drivers to get lost or take several hours to reach its destination.
Caitlin Dolkart and Maria Rabinovich are the two co-founders of Flare. The two worked in the healthcare industry in Africa and found that it’s easier to hail an Uber than it is for people to call an ambulance in an emergency.
Flare will rollout in stages to ensure the app runs smoothly.
Flare will use an app or hotline to call an ambulance. The app will allow the person to communicate and track the ambulance until it arrives. Drivers will have access to Google Maps to know the pickup destination and will provide traffic details.
The company aims to alleviate most of the issues that plague Kenya’s slow ambulance system.
Flare will work much like Uber, with revenue coming from a commission on each ambulance fare. The app will be available to consumers in the next six months. The company plans to expand the fleet in the future and may provide private security and police services.
The platform has around 50 ambulances and 10 fire trucks that are using the service.
