An innovative approach to design has helped with the development of an economically viable trauma-response pack for road-traffic accidents in the developing world. The “parachute design” approach has seen proof of principle demonstrated with the trauma pack designed specifically for Namibia. Researchers in Namibia working with colleagues in the UK provided details of the design and development in the Journal of Design Research.
The World Health Organisation reports that some 3400 people die on our roads each day around the world. Tens of millions of people injured and maimed in road traffic accidents each year. The WHO has targets for reducing this devastation and as such countries such as Namibia, which is referred to as Developing Country with an Upper-Middle Income are an idea environment for the development of first-responder packs that might save lives and reduce the injury toll in a road traffic accident.
An interdisciplinary team based at the Cardiff School of Art and Design at Cardiff Metropolitan University and Cardiff University’s School of Medicine previously worked on two trauma packs between 2012 and 2016, The first, a low-cost trauma pack, was designed for use in rural Zambia and the second extended the functionality of this pack for Europe. The design of the newer trauma kit, the Namibia pack, focuses on the specific requirements and available resources of Namibia to create a low-cost system. Fundamentally, by using a human-centred design (HCD) approach that gathers feedback during development from potential end-users and those who will manufacture the packs, the team was able to most effectively address what the WHO refers to as the “Four As” – accessibility, availability, affordability and appropriateness.
Clara Watkins, Steve Gill of Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK, Gareth Loudon of the School of Design at the Royal College of Art, London, Judith Hall of the University of Namibia, Matthew Carwardine of Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, and Chen Wen Ngua and John Jackson of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, hoped to make significant inroads into lowering mortality rates associated with road-traffic accidents in Namibia.
The team makes a significant point about such work and its benefits: “It is important to recognise that collaborating with the University of Namibia, having prior knowledge of the context and access and support from key stakeholders, made the project viable,” the researchers write.
Watkins, C., Gill, S., Loudon, G., Hall, J., Carwardine, M., Ngua, C.W. and Jackson, J. (2022) ‘The challenges of parachute design: the development of a low cost, fit for purpose trauma pack for use in Namibia’, J. Design Research, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp.1–34.
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