FIT is helping to develop the Záchranka app

Few mobile apps are as widely used in the Czech Republic. Záchranka has already been downloaded more than 3.5 million times. Over 100 people use it every day, and it has facilitated more than 220,000 contacts to date. The project, which began as a bachelor’s thesis by Brno University of Technology student Filip Maleňák, is now the official app of the Emergency Medical Service, Mountain Rescue Service, and Water Rescue Service. And it has long since expanded beyond the borders of the Czech Republic.

Work on the app continues. Záchranka has its own internal software team, albeit a small one consisting of seven members. The current development of Záchranka is closely linked to the environment of the Faculty of Information Technology at BUT. Former faculty student Martin Dybal, now an employee of Záchranka, has been working as an external lecturer at the faculty since 2014 (specifically, he contributes to the ICS and IW5 courses). Dybal is responsible for assigning projects that allow students to participate in Záchranka’s software development. One of the three projects already defended is a bachelor’s thesis authored by Radek Jestřabík, the results of which have recently been implemented into Záchranka and have brought significant progress in video call functionality.

The result is a system in the form of a multimedia server through which video is transmitted from the user to the Záchranka portal. It is precisely the live playback of the video call recording during the call with the caller that is the key benefit of Jestřabík’s solution. Other changes added to the portal thanks to his work include the ability to capture important moments via a screenshot, which can be forwarded to a newly assigned dispatcher, who then doesn’t have to search through the recording. The solutions are now implemented in the app in all countries where Záchranka operates. “It was challenging; there were a lot of things we had to improve and fine-tune,” comments Jestřabík.

You can read more about the current state of Záchranka’s development and our faculty’s involvement in its improvement in our press release.