Yesterday, with the help of dozens of people from multiple organizations, we launched an SMS short code in Haiti!
If you are in Haiti, report emergency info and location by texting 4636.
Subscribers on the DigiCel network in Haiti can now report incidents by sending text messages free of charge to 4636. The shortcode makes it even faster and easier for eyewitnesses to report developments on the ground.
If you are in Haiti, report emergency information and location by texting free to 4636
A key goal is to make the SMS project easy to use for those on the grounds with needs and organizations on the ground trying to help. The radical problem is mixing two completely different scenarios here:
- Finding people
- Relieving needs
The heavy lifting of parsing and then separating these messages into the two main buckets (“needs” and “missing persons”) is the tech communities (our) role.
We understand that the incoming SMS messages will be in a completely open form, even though we ask for messages to have certain types of data in it (issue and location). The phone number will be automatically saved into the database as a key identifier, noting that more than one person might be using any given phone.
How it works
The basic process for this project follows is this:
- Put word out that people on the ground can send [Name, location, status/message]
- SMS submitted, with varying levels of structure/detail
- Enters database
- Passed to a mechanical turk-type outfit of volunteers for structuring
- Message is structured in the database
- Gets passed off to orgs (via Sahana) that can do something about the issue
Background
Shortly after we deployed http://haiti.ushahidi.com in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, it became clear we needed a local SMS short code to make mobile reporting more viable. Josh Nesbit, Co-Founder of FrontlineSMS:Medic, took the lead by looking for a contact on the ground in Haiti. Using Twitter, Josh found Jean-Marc Castera who was heading to the DigiCel command center.
Josh says that, “skyping with Jean-Marc on the ground, and letting the Ushahidi team in Kenya and the US know I had someone from DigiCel’s command center on the line was an awesome moment.” Working in partnership with the U.S. Department of State (Big thanks to @kateatstate), Ushahidi eventually secured the short code 4636 from DigiCel.
Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes, Brian Herbert worked with Josh, Luke Beckman from InSTEDD, Paul Goodman from DAI, and Rob Munro to structure content. They created an online database at http://4636.ushahidi.com where incoming raw SMS reports can be tagged and mapped. Local organizations can subscribe to the SMS feed by contacting Brian Herbert.
On the ground in Haiti, Nicolas di Tada and Eric Rasmussen, CEO of InSTEDD also provided crucial support. Nicolas did the initial testing of the shortcode and is currently handling local outreach. InSTEDD’s EIS project and Reuters are using the short code to register mobile numbers from people on the ground for vital information blasts.
And now we’re looking for volunteers to process the incoming SMS Reports. Please see these instructions to learn how you can help!
Get Involved
The system is currently tracking information in the several categories and subcategories including: emergencies, threats, responder activities, news about individuals, and the location of resources.
How to Report:
- In Haiti SMS to 4636 or internationally to +447624802524
- Send e-mail to Haiti@ushahidi.com
- Online at http://haiti.ushahidi.com/reports/submit
- Via Twitter with hash tag #haiti or #haitiquake
How to receive Alerts:
Subscribe at http://haiti.ushahidi.com/alerts to receive alerts to your mobile phone or email.
How you can help:
- Spread the word among friends & family
- Reach out to local organizations and media
- Ask international agencies to share their info
- Send us your comments to feedback@ushahidi.com
- Join us! Visit http://www.ushahidi.com/join for more info
[Image courtesy of UNDP]
83 Responses
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so difficult 2 be a volunteer because of inappropriate SMS texts
@gerhard problem has been fixed!
Thomson Reuters just put out a press release about the 4636 text code as part of their Emergency Information Service: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60G16420100117. Yet there is no mention in your post about EIS. Please clarify. Thanks.
Hey Janet. We’re working with InSTEDD and ThomsonReuters (EIS) on the 4636 project as well. We’re handling the data as it comes in, doing our “sms turk” thing (which is people applying structure to unstructured SMS messages), and then passing that info off to groups that can help. The EIS team is using it for broadcast and disaster information messages as well as helping with getting the information to the right response teams.
People such as yourselves give me hope. Thank you Ushahidi.
I tried getting people mobilized to get this done too. Glad to see it got done.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4149977.stm )
On the one hand you’re doing something really amazing technologically- x1000 better than DARPA’s ‘Find the Red Balloons’.
On the other hand- how do you know that a cluster of reports reflects an urgent need? It could just be an indication that people there have the means to report.
@Debbie – excellent question. Right now we’re just passing the messages onto the orgs that can help on the ground and they’re doing a triage on them. However, let me ask the team if we can do something within the system to give an indication of “urgency” or “need level”.
If your backlog of sms data is growing, we could help by setting up a similar sms classification form in Mobenzi and linking into your data source. This is the exact type of problem we designed the system to handle – http://www.mobenzi.com/index.php/features/improving-the-usability-of-sms-messaging-to-computers/.
This would allow people without PC’s to quickly classify sms messages using standard mobile phones. Unfortunately the 4636 messages are not in English so we don’t have access to a team of people who could do the work. We are hoping that there are others who might be able to assist here if it is needed (i.e. someone who could put together a team of French speaking people with phones that support Java).
Contact me via the website (www.mobenzi.com) if you think we can help.
someone should ask reuters to be clearer about the role of eis – i nearly dismissed it as yet another silo till i saw this post. there news release is not clear and seems to claim the whole thing is run by instedd/reuters/rc http://thomsonreuters.com/content/press_room/corp/corp_news/TR_Foundation_launches_EIS
Please note that the encoding you are using is incapable of reading european characters, which are used in creole (è, ò etc) and french. The volunteers are doing a lot of guesswork which succeeds at an 80-85% margin. I’m not sure we can risk the remaining margin of error. Thank you. Thank you for everything you are doing.
Would French Canadians be able to help?
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You are doing such a great job..Well done..
It is amazing, my friend is in Haiti, He has used this code of text msg. Really helpful.
thanks for share The 4636 SMS Shortcode for Reporting in Haiti it useful information..
It is cool that they stepped it up so quick to get a number way of contacting emergency services. Keep the fight alive.
Haiti is in such need. They are doing the best they can. Keep the network up and things will get better.
This is a great use of the SMS technology, great work!
great sms service
upratovanie
gogomalls
great stuff, many thanks
Thank you for this great stuff. I like it very much.
I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I definitely savored every little bit of it including all the comments and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
This is a great project it will really help a lot in the emergency cases.. But the question is; are the emergency personnel well trained in terms of emergency crisis? Because if not the project 4636 will be useless…
Is it still possible to donate to the people of Haiti? I would like to give $10.
Great idea, hope this can help, to prevent deaths of many innocent victims of a disaster…
Great service! Other countries can emulate the same when disasters happen there. It is simple, yet can deliver powerful results.
It is good news for people in Haiti. It has a big help in case of emergency. This site proved that anyone of us can do anything to help one another. Thank you sharing this and keep it up.
@Josh i m getting same problem.
I wanted to thank you for this special read. It is good news for people in Haiti. But my question is ‘are the emergency personnel well trained in terms of emergency crisis?’
I M AGREEED WITH IT……………………….
Amazing Blog.
I loved reading this.
Good post.
This was just a fantastic post …
I m booking this site.
10/10 for this amazing post on short code.
if this service really helps in emergencies, its a great job!!!!!!!!
This was really benefical.
Fantastic blog.
Fantastic post.
This really helped me alot.
zBest Sayings
we apreciate ur concern to support such a cause.
Haiti earthquake was a drastic incident andwe provide u all our support.
We had some relatives working there and they were rescued with this – so many thanks – We didn’t know what to do
in collaboration with
Nice Article, thank you for sharing, and so much for this information. But I do not find the article on T-Mobile Wireless Phones on your website.
Nice site. On your blogs very interest and i will tell a friends.
Hi Erik.
This idea of yours is definitely accessible for those who are in need.
Please note that the encoding you are using is incapable of reading european characters, which are used in creole (è, ò etc) and french. The volunteers are doing a lot of guesswork which succeeds at an 80-85% margin. I’m not sure we can risk the remaining margin of error. Thank you. Thank you for everything you are doing.
Cheers and keep up the good work,
Piers,
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I’m the first time to come blog.ushahidi.com and just saying hello.
I really love blog.ushahidi.com this great site.
Hi Author. This is so cool and convenient. I hope we have this in every country. Emergencies are inevitable and a quick response is needed.
Hello. This is more like it. Immediate and convenient responses are needed especially that Haiti have not yet recovered from that destructive earthquake.
Continuing the Discussion