THE PROBLEM
Communities forced to rely on aid from outside organizations are left extremely vulnerable during natural disasters. Since putting together an earthquake kit or a hurricane bag remains perpetually on many family’s “to-do” list, a ready-made off-the-shelf option is valuable, but packs currently available for sale are worse than useless. They contain a great deal of cruft and filler (dinky band-aids, anti-itch cream) and they fail to include many things which are key in a real disaster (ex: duct tape, hemostatic bandages, fasteners, water purification and storage equipment). They also tend to skimp on quality, and a natural disaster is not the time to be relying on chintzy gear.
THE SOLUTION
Ready-to-go custom made backpacks filled with the most useful equipment for disaster response (as chosen by medical professionals, first responders, and survivors) and absolutely nothing else. Stuff like quick-clotting gauze, waterproof matches, and signalling mirrors. With enough of each item that sharing is easy. And automatic emails that remind users to refresh their packs. No dinky band-aids.
THE PLAN
The first run of packs will be crowdfunded by 1000 pre-orders and will be sold at-cost (around $100). We’re aiming for a mid-February launch date. Subsequent runs will be sold normally at a low price-point, both to individual and institutional customers. Packs will also be available to purchase as donations, which will be distributed to those in need by our partner NGOs.
THE TEAM
Eric Meltzer - Project Lead
Eric Meltzer is the founder of The Open Company, a small startup dedicated to making well-designed high quality goods and selling them at reasonable prices. He attended college at Peking University in Beijing, where he learned Mandarin (and got some firsthand experience in the Chinese manufacturing scene) and is currently on academic leave to pursue this venture.
Greg Hadfield - Medical Advisor
Greg graduated from Stanford with a degree in Human Biology. He served a long career in the United States military including stints as Pararescue Jumper in the Air National Guard and in the US Army intially as an Airborne Ranger and later as a Special Forces soldier. Greg’s experience in combat rescue and as an instructor in combat medicine procedures for Deployment Medicine International has enabled him to provide priceless practical advice on what items to include (and exclude) in the medical portion of the pack, and how to best instruct people in their use.
Steven Lane - Medical Advisor
Steven earned his MD at UCSF, and later taught there as a faculty member. Steven has experience conducting medical relief operations in the developing world. He presently serves as the EHR Ambulatory Physician Director for Sutter Health. His many years of practice as well as his familiarity with wilderness medicine techniques are proving extremely useful in optimizing the medical portion of the pack.
Calli Beck - Designer
Calli is a designer and artist in San Francisco, CA, with a great deal of design experience ranging from utilitarian workwear to shade structures that stand up to extreme weather conditions. She is drawing upon her extensive knowledge of industrial fabrics and construction techniques to create a unique bag to house the contents of the TOC Emergency Pack.
Justin Jach - Videographer
Justin is a videographer who makes mainly documentary style work in which music plays a big part. He speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and has just returned from a documentary trip to the Middle East where he documented the nascent hacker-space movement in Lebanon. He will be shooting the video that will form the centerpeice of the crowdfunding campaign.
DOCUMENTS
Emergency Pack Hackpad
Check here for the state of the project–this is where all discussion and planning takes place.
Pack Contents
This spreadsheet contains all of the items currently scheduled to be included in the pack, along with pricing and size information.
Media Contacts
This is where we’re collecting all of the various media contacts for the project. Getting solid and continued coverage from online & offline media is key to a successful crowdfunding campaign. If you know bloggers, reporters, forums, or other media people that would be interesting in covering the project, please add them to this list!