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DIRECTOR'S BLOG #1: September 8, 2021
Subtopics: LIGTAS App, Emergency, Communal Responsibility, COVID-19
Trigger Warning: Sensitive Content. (Loss, COVID, Suspense) Please proceed at your own risk.
Just recently, I made a post on Facebook with regard to the release of LIGTAS 3.0. As I was writing that post, it couldn't help me but ponder on how things went from the beginnings of the LIGTAS App to where it is today. A few days from now, we will be completing the LIGTAS 3.0. prototyping and putting it on Google Play, and back then, I still remembered using the Weebly website to host LIGTAS's posts. Now, with the support of many LGUs, LIGTAS is going to new heights in and out of Cebu (yes, you heard that right). The LIGTAS App was indeed a great help to society as an Emergency Communications tool. However, it isn't perfect, but is still being built better every day. It is a tool that I originally envisioned (and still do) that can bring families another chance to hug their loved ones and care for them amidst the pandemic. I knew this because I experienced this first-hand, wherein a call for help at an earlier time would've made a bigger difference.
However, just like in every other success, a story of success wouldn't be around without its own share of failures. LIGTAS actually had a rocky and emotional start and I believe it is a story worth sharing. I won't be able to share much details out of respect for the family.
Last June 30, 2020, I encountered one of the most hearbreaking emergency reponses in my journey as an Emergency Responder. I had a neighbor who I considered as family who was already nearing the last stages of her life. Although I was prohibited from originally responding for my own personal safety, I had no choice. I put on my PPE and took this picture, thinking that if anything ever happened to me after I responded, those I love would have something to look back on that I have fulfilled my duty as a Scout "to help other people at all times". I sprung into action and did my best to call for help, for an ambulance to have my neighbor brought to the nearest hospital as her vitals were dilating. But then, my friends in the team I volunteered in and all my personal contacts weren't able to find a ready ambulance. When the ambulance did come, the patient's family have already decided not to have her brought to the hospital. It was an image that is fresh in my mind and one I cannot easily forget. We were all exhausted, and we knew that the time is coming. The last goodbyes and hugs were too painful to watch. It was then close to midnight when we checked her vitals wherein no pulse and breathing are present. She was gone, and it broke not only her family but also to those who tried her best to bring her back.
The day after that, I still couldn't get over what happened. To get my mind off it, I reviewed the old papers from the LIGTAS Project I had. I then remembered my Scoutmaster calling me to push me to continue on building the App, as it was something that could save more lives. I thought it through and eventually started in consulting Engr. Caballes for help on the LIGTAS App. It was then 21 days later, after failures in prototype and gathering information, the LIGTAS App Mark 1 was up and running. I also remembered using it on the day it was launch due to helping out in my volunteer group. I was also bewildered with how a blessing this tool can be to those who need it. And so, it was then and there that I have decided to bring this app to greater heights, to reach more people, so that more and more people won't have to experience the "last goodbyes", the "last embraces", and the "last kisses".
Looking back from those experiences, I can say that LIGTAS has a more solid purpose rather than just to connect caller and emergency response agency. It was a tool, a bridge to bring families together again, to allow people to have another chance to live and love. It was a piece of technology that had a wholesome purpose for the people in my community. And with it, I am proud to say that it will be here forever to stay. Saving lives with a call can be as much worth as granting someone else another chance to be with their family, if we allow them to do so. Which is why, I encourage bystanders, all Cebuanos from all walks of life, to download the app: It may not be you who will be using it that much, but when the time comes that you see someone who needs help, you can live with the fact that a simple phone call that you made saved a life. Who knows? Maybe someone would do the same for you as well!
We can only heal as one if we work together, whether be it from a pandemic or from emergencies, working together is the best practice to strengthen to society. Which is why, if you ask what is the LIGTAS App's contribution to society? Apart from allowing families to live and love together again, it brings out the best in us to serve others especially in our call (as the Second Point of the Scout Law said): to help other people at all times.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ken Boltiador is the National Director of LIGTAS Philippines. To learn more about the author, check out his profile at The Director's Corner.
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