TEXTING THAT SAVES LIVES

As texting during driving is getting a lot of well-deserved negative publicity, texting during health crises is also saving lives, but is hardly getting any attention at all.

We all recognize that text messaging as an increasingly important channel of communication, is on the rise, with growth that is expected to more than double by the end of next year. During just the second quarter of 2009, VeriSign Messaging and Mobile Media delivered a total of 94.8 billion text messages — an average of more than a billion messages a day.

The negative side: In an op-ed this month in U.S. News & World Report, NY State Representative Carolyn Maloney cited research showing that people who text while driving are 23 times more likely to have an accident. Another study, published by Car and Driver in June, concluded that texting while driving can be more dangerous than driving while drunk!

The positive side: texting is now poised to save lives.

In many parts of the world, people don’t have access to doctors or hospitals. Whatever rural health workers there may be, they don’t always have the training or technology to assist with major medical problems. A company called FrontlineSMS:Medic is enabling community healthcare workers to text messages to a hospital with their questions about health problems and get quick responses … without the hospital having to waste valuable time and resources sending doctors into the field when it’s not necessary.

Two weeks ago, FrontlineSMS:Medic won an award for the “best use of mobile technology for social good.” The award, given out by NetSquared, gives the project funding to continue to upgrade its software and expand the program. If you want to read more, check out the GOOD blog.

Technorati Tags: text messaging, U.S. News, World Report , VeriSign Messaging, Mobile Media, communication, Carolyn Maloney, public relations, business, Makovsky