Pacifico is a South American organisation that provides creative, tech-based solutions in disaster-prone areas. Products like the Earthquake amulet, Rescue Cell cases, and the Search Box dramatically increase the chance of a victim’s survival when they’re trapped or stranded after a natural disaster.
Millions of people around the world are affected by natural disasters every year. This year alone, nature has wreaked havoc in the form of floods, landslides, earthquakes and more. When disaster strikes, the most pressing issue is communication, sounding the alarm for help, and reaching family members when cell phone signals struggle.
Pacifico’s mobile survival kit includes a smartphone case with solar panels, a signal booster antenna to amplify signal strength, an emergency radio, a water-resistant cover to protect the phone and an SOS light.
Another of its products, the Rescue Cell Case, works in tandem with a third product called a Search Box. The boxes are distributed to emergency services and it includes a sonar and radar detector. The Rescue Cell Case is a mobile phone cover with an inbuilt radio-frequency identification chip and detectable metal strip that can easily be found by the Search Box.
“Resilience is the capacity of a community to survive and adapt no matter what kind of shocks it experiences. It’s like the ‘immunological system’ of a community. The Internet has a huge potential to help communities build resilience in the face of disasters,” reads the organisation’s website.
According to Social Tech, Pacifico is currently working with scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey to research into mobile phones’ capacity to detect ground motion and warn of impending earthquakes.
