SPEARS: Smart Phone Emergency and Accident Reporting System Using Social Network Service and Dijkstra's Algorithm on Android

摘要

This paper presents research results on an efficient tool for emergency and accident reporting on Android smart phones with social network services. We have developed a location-aware Smart Phone Emergency and Accident Reporting System (SPEARS) for Facebook and Twitter users including agencies responsible for handling emergency situations and accidents. Agencies (e.g., police, fire departments, and hospitals) can store their locations via SPEARS, so that users involved in an emergency situation can retrieve the shortest path from the point of alert to the point of care, e.g. a hospital. On the other hand, agencies can retrieve the current location of the emergency via GPS and send help immediately. The shortest path is calculated by applying an improved Dijkstra's algorithm and displayed on Google maps in appropriate scaling. Moreover, SPEARS supports the collection and statistical presentation of emergency and accident data for further analysis.