Organising more than 250 volunteers in a single app
The starting point
Providing first aid at Geneva's big events
From the Course de l’Escalade to concerts, it's Samaritans who staff the first-aid posts.
For each event, the cantonal association receives the organiser's request and distributes it among its 12 sections. Each section forms its team, which then reports on the care given on site.
What it cost
Hours lost copying the same information from one tool to another
Everything went through WhatsApp groups, Excel tables and paper forms. This mix was enough for a long time, then it couldn't keep up.
You had to chase those who didn't reply, transfer the answers to a table, re-enter the paper forms. Each section had its own method, so that when it came to reporting to the canton, nobody had reliable figures.
The solution
From the office to the field, everyone in the same place
A web app for the association, a mobile app for the volunteers. The organiser's request, the schedule and the incident reports all go through it.
On their phone, everyone sees the events, signs up and fills in their incident report on site.
Avant / après
Avant
- Availability asked for in WhatsApp, copied into Excel
- A different method from one section to the next
- Care noted on paper, re-entered later
- Figures to piece together for the canton
Après
- Everyone replies in the app, the schedule fills itself
- The same method everywhere
- Care entered once, on site
- Figures ready as soon as the event ends
Key decision
Why not take off-the-shelf software?
The question is legitimate: standard management software already handles quotes, contacts and invoices. We evaluated it before developing anything.
What makes up the Samaritans' work didn't fit in: an event split between several sections, a mission offered to volunteers then approved by a manager, a form filled in in the field. Bending it to get there would have cost more than building.
Key learning
Real time impressed, but slowed everyone down
At first, we wanted fifty people to see each other's changes live on the same schedule. In practice, the system became heavier and slower for everyone.
We tested without it: the user experience was just as good. Going back cost work already done; carrying on would have cost much more, and later.
The result
- Availability collected in the tool, no longer in a WhatsApp group
- Incident reports entered on site, no longer on paper
- [Number of events covered per year, to be provided by the association]
Testimonial
« [Quote to collect from Samaritains Genève, with consent to cite]. »
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