AKRON, Ohio-When John Vugrin’s newborn baby was sick, he and his wife went to the doctor for help.
“Its nerve-wrecking,” said Vugrin, who lives with his family of five in Canton. “She’s new. She can’t really tell us what’s wrong yet. So you’re just kind of scared, nervous and hoping everything’s OK.”
Now Akron Childrens Hospital is helping parents like Vugrin…via mobile device.
“Your desktop is your mobile phone now,” he said, pointing to his iPhone. “Everything is in the palm of your hand. It’s fantastic.”
The hospital’s new iPhone app, Care4Kids, gives parents health tips, videos, locations to the nearest hospital.
The app even stores info that’s easy to forget, giving parents like Zachary Campbell of Uniontown, a bit of a break.
“If she’s sick for one week, is that too long? Or if she’s sick for two weeks, is that too long,” Campbell asked. “Knowing stuff like that would be useful and would help relieve a lot of the stress.”
According to Mobile Health News, it’s expected by the year 2015 that half a million people will access a health care application off of their mobile device.
However, Akron Children’s Hospital staff says there are a few things that separate theirs from the 4,200 other health-related apps out there today.
“You can map your way to the local, to the nearest ER,” said Andrea Joliet, one of the masterminds behind the Care4Kids app. “In an emergency, you may have your insurance card. You’re sitting there thinking, what is her social security number? Its all right there. It makes it easier.”
Its a new, local app empowering parents when they need it most.
“It’s stressful enough being a parent, let alone having to worry about sickness or anything like that,” Campbell said.
The Care4Kids app is available for download through the Apple Store. You can download it for free on your iPhone, iPod or iPad. In May, the application will be available in the Android Marketplace.
Those who download the app will also get a free parking pass to the hospital.