First Aid & Symptoms Search is an Android app that started off as a search engine designed for emergency situations. Since then the app has grown and can be a big help when you, or those around you need medical attention and there’s nobody trained nearby to help and an Ambulance is still far away. While it isn’t designed as a one-stop tool to help you out in a crisis, what it does do is provide you detailed information about a number of different topics and what to do in order to keep on top of a situation before help arrives. It’s also a great application to store your ICE information and quickly contact emergency services as well as your local pharmacy and more. With the Human Atlas showing users what to look for as well as detailed videos to help further, this seems like a comprehensive app. Take a quick look at the outline video below and read on to see what we thought of First Aid & Symptoms Search and what it has to offer.
As with other Android apps, it’s a good idea to start by downloading First Aid & Symptoms Search from the Play Store. After that you’ll need to accept the terms and conditions as well as download the medical data. This is an important step, as this means you’ll be able to access this information even when you don’t have a strong data connection as it’ll be stored on your device. The sync feature from the main menu will repeat this process to make sure you have the most up-to-date database and you should do this once every couple of months.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll be given a menu of frequently search for ailments. These range from fractures, asthma related problems to heart attacks and more. With First Aid & Symptoms Search, you can find something about the vast majority of common issues.
The search feature of First Aid & Symptoms (which you can learn more about here) is a great way of finding information based on simple keywords of symptoms. In the screenshots below, I’ve searched for a number of common ailments and the app has provided me with some decent search results.
Going back to the categories above, if it were a really hot summer day and someone on the beach feels sick, they might be dehydrated. As such, you can choose the heat section and then read up on dehydration.
There are videos included with First Aid & Symptoms Search, like the one featured below, which shows how to quickly check if someone is dehydrated. There are many videos included here, and they can be a great help when far away from emergency services.
Going hand-in-hand with the many videos available in the app is the Human Atlas (accessed from the black Atlas icon in the main menu). With the Human Atlas, you can touch on certain body parts and then select symptoms to perform a search using those pains and feelings. In the below screenshot, I’ve touched the toe and selected insect stings and numbness.
A nice feature for those undergoing a First Aid course or looking to be better prepared is the Did You Know feature. This allows you to quickly learn about common First Aid problems and symptoms to look for.
First Aid & Symptoms Search is also useful for storing all of your ICE information in it, including possible diseases and such that could run in your family.
As well as this, there’s the ability to look up local emergency services, with the option of even programming in information for your local pharmacy.
Perhaps a feature more for professionals or trained individuals, you can take a look at lab test analysis. You can take a look at blood tests and what to look for, as well as urine samples as I’ve done in the below screenshots.
First Aid & Symptoms Search is a nifty app, and one that could prove valuable one day down the line. Essentially a very powerful, offline database with some easy-to-use filters to find the right sort of information, this is an app you can use whenever and wherever, again thanks to it being offline. It’s packed full of information, and while a lot of it is a little complicated to understand, in the hands of someone who has basic first aid training, this could save a life. Otherwise, First Aid & Symptoms Search is helpful by providing videos of what to look for and how to test for certain ailments as well as the ability to contact emergency services and find local services nearby. For me though, the most useful part of the app is the ICE information. You can input all sorts of info here and make it easily accessible for people traveling with you or those that might have found you. Then, they can search the database in the same app for tips on what to do and what to say to emergency services. Altogether, this is a pretty nifty app, and one that families with members who have permanent ailments should keep installed on their phone.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – First Aid & Symptoms Search is a pretty quick app and thanks to the initial download of data it doesn’t take too long to find info you need.
- Features (4.5/5) – With lots of symptoms, tips on what to do and what not to do, the ICE database and more, this is a fully featured first aid app. The Human Atlas and Did You Know features further extend its ease of use as well.
- Theme (3.5/5) – The theme here could do with some work, like an upgrade to a more modern Android look and feel, but it is fairly easy to use.
- Overall (4/5) – First Aid & Symptoms Search ticks all the right boxes for this sort of app, and the only real issue with it is that some of the information is a little overly complicated to follow, but it could help save people’s lives.
Pros
- Quick and easy to use, with no hoops to jump through or anything like that.
- Completely offline after the initial download, making this an app you can use wherever without worrying about signal or data costs.
- Videos can show the right way and wrong way to perform emergency aid.
- Easy search feature makes it quick and easy to get the right information at the right time.
Cons
- Some of the language is a little difficult to understand.
- Quick bullet points on common accident help would be helpful for sections like asthma, heat and fractures.
First Aid & Symptoms Search works fairly well, and it does have a lot on offer. It’s a little rough around the edges, with a UI that does feel a little dated, but it gets the job done and it’s fairly painless. The videos, the Human Atlas and ICE information are invaluable, especially to someone who needs help in a number of situations, and while it can be information overload at times, it’s always better to be over prepared rather than not at all. Some of the features, like the Lab Test for instance are perhaps aimed at professionals, but this is a search engine and database that’s easy enough for anyone to use. To install First Aid & Symptoms you can do so from heading to the website, or clicking on one of the buttons below.
