Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Volume 8, No.

1, February 2020
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Asia Pacific Journal of
HELP BRO: A Mobile Application for Multidisciplinary Research
Calamities and Disaster Vol. 8 No.1, 106-111
February 2020
Jeusuel Nonnatus N. de Luna (EdD), Martin Fred Q. Pingol P-ISSN 2350-7756
Perpetual Help College of Manila, Philippines E-ISSN 2350-8442
deluna99902@uphsl.edu.ph www.apjmr.com
ASEAN Citation Index
Date Received: October 28, 2019; Date Revised: February 4, 2020
Abstract –The Philippines is battered by different natural and man-made disasters. Until now,
typhoons, earthquakes flash floods and fires are sending thousands or even millions of individual to death
and damage to properties as well. Development of new technologies can improve the effectiveness and
efficiency in conducting the rescue missions to those who are affected. Disaster warnings and evacuation
guidelines may also save lives of many peoples. The Philippines has lack effective disaster preparedness
system to resist natural disasters. The primary aimed of the study is to develop “HELP BRO”: A Mobile
Application for Calamities and Disaster. The study was conceptualized and developed to help during
disasters and emergencies. The Help Bro app has two main modules: The Rescuer App and “the Rescue
App”. The rescuer application can be used by concern government agencies such as the NDRRRMO, the
BFP and the Red Cross. The rescuer app can locate the exact location real time of the user who needs
help via GPS, wifi or the cellular data. While the rescue app can be used by the people who needs help.
The app will automatically locate and select the nearest rescuer.
The application the developed system were by evaluated by twenty (20) Information and
Communication Technology Professionals, (30) rescue professionals coming from the City NDRRMO,
BFP and Red Cross using International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9126 Six (6) Software
Quality Standards. The result revealed that the system’s functionality, reliability, usability, reliability,
efficiency, maintainability and portability were “very acceptable.
Keywords –Disaster, Mobile Application, Rescuer App

INTRODUCTION devices [3][4]. The use of wireless mobile technology in

The Philippines is the fourth most disaster-prone the Philippines is prevalent. A study showed that one
country in the world in terms of climate-related Filipino in two is a subscriber to a mobile phone service
disasters such as flooding and typhoons because it is and more than two billion in the world are mobile users.
located along the center of a typhoon belt as well as Because of the wide coverage of the mobile phone
along the boundary of a major tectonic plates [1]. network, it may be used in the implementation of a
Arecent study, Philippines has an average annual loss of disaster management system making it available in
us$7.893 million which is equivalent to 69 per cent of everyone’s pocket [5].
social expenditure in the country because of calamities The app was created to enable users the capability
[2]. Now a day’s there are many available and to seek help when a disaster or incident strikes. In
emerging technologies that plays an important role in addition, people can notify others of the danger ahead
disaster management and preparedness. Mobile phones through “Help Bro” Application so that they can avoid
can be used for monitoring, communication, warming the area where the danger is through crowd sourcing. It
dissemination even for rescue and evacuation. seeks to help expedite the response time of the
Moreover, until now there are a number of researchers responding unit using the user's mobile phone built-in
that have been conducted as well as development of an GPS.
application about disaster management system.
Mobile apps were designed with different demands OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
and a new interaction and communication approach was The main objective of the study is to develop
established. A notification or an alert system is very “Help Bro”: A mobile application for calamities and
useful for delivering alerts during emergency while disaster. Specifically it aimed to identify the structure of
GPS and other related mobile apps help to locate the mobile application “Help Bro” An App for
potential victims from danger, and there are some Calamities and Disaster; determine the needed data and
applications that are developed as pre-disaster warning requirements for of the mobile application “Help Bro”
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An App for Calamities and Disaster; develop the API Table 2. Respondents Year Experience
design of the mobile application; and determine the Respondents Frequency … Percentages
respondents’ level of agreement in evaluating the Less than 1 year 6 … 12%
software based on ISO 9126 in terms of functionality, 2 - 5 years 12 24%
reliability, usability, Efficiency and portability of the 5 – 10 years 21 42%
develop system. 10 – Years Above 11 22%

MATERIALS AND METHODS Table 2 shows the number of experience in years of

This research made use of descriptive and the respondents who evaluated the “Help Bro”. The
developmental method of research in which the highest in rank is the respondents with 5 to 10 years of
developmental research is the systematic study of experience.
designing, developing and evaluating instructional
programs, processes and products that must meet the RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
criteria of internal consistency and effectiveness[6]. The
descriptive method of research describes the nature of Structure of the mobile application “Help Bro” An
the situation as it exists at the time of the study. It App for Calamities and Disaster?
involves gathering data that describe events and then There are two types of design: External design
organizes, tabulates, depicts and describes the data. It and Internal design. The External design basically
also uses description as a tool to organize data into describes the (user) interfaces of the end product. The
patterns that emerge during analysis [7]. Internal design describes the structural design of “Help
Bro” which can be seen as the Architecture of the
Population, Sample Sizeand Sampling Technique Application.
The initial data for this research primarily came
from the thirty (30) rescue professionals coming from
the City NDRRMO, BFP and Red Cross. The system
used were validated by the dean to evaluate the
qualifications of the respondents.
The mobile application were evaluated by twenty
(20) Information and Communication Technology
experts , and thirty (30) rescue professionals coming
from the City NDRRMO, BFP and Red Cross using
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
9126 Six (6) Software Quality Standards. The
researchers use a non-probability sampling method
were not all members of the population have an equal
chances of being selected. Purposive sampling was
facilitated the prompt tallying evaluations sheet. It is a
non-probability sampling in which the selected sample
is based on the objective of the study. Figure 1. Hierarchical Chart of “Help Bro” SOS
Application for Calamities and Disaster
Respondents of the Study
Figure 1 below shows the hierarchical chart of
Table 1. ICT Respondents “Help Bro”. It shows the composition of the “Help
Respondents Frequency … Percentages Bro” applications namely the Admin, Rescuer and
ICT Experts 20 … 40% Rescue Apps.
Rescue
30 … 60% Figure 2 shows the conceptual process of “Help
Professional Bro” which illustrate its components. These are
Webserver, Database, GPS Satellite, Internet, Rescuer
Table 1 shows the respondents’ position, in which App, Rescue App, Mobile Device
40% of them were industry developers or ICT Experts
while the remaining 60% were Rescue Professionals.

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 de Luna et al., “HELP BRO”: A Mobile Application for Calamities and Disaster
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Figure 4 shows user
homepage of the “Help
Bro” Rescue App. It
shows the different type
of recue reports for
Calamities and Disaster
that a rescue will request
for. It also shows the
buttons where the user
can go to his/her profile
information, reports
requested and to logout
hisaccount.

Figure 4. Homepage of
Figure 2. Conceptual Process of “Help Bro” SOS “Help Bro” Rescue App
Application for Calamities and Disaster

Needed data and requirements for of the mobile

application “Help Bro” An App for Calamities and
Disaster
The requirements that are needed to build the app
are the ff: Phone that’s run Android Operating System,
XAMARIN FORM, IIS Server. The software
requirements are Realm Studio Application that have
access on the software database.
The information needed for the system is the basic
personal information of the user for the Rescue App
such as name, age, address, birthday, and gender. And
for the Rescuer App, are
rescuer details such as
name, birthday, age, type of
Organization, name of
Organization, position of
the Rescuer User.

API design of the mobile

application

Figure 3 shows the Figure 5. User Ask for Figure 6. User Report
registration page of the Help Page page of “Help Bro”
“Help Bro” Rescue App. In Rescue App.
Rescue App Registration
page, the user must enter the Figure 5 shows the User Ask for help page of the
entire personal information Rescue app. In Rescue App user Ask for help page, it
field required. It has an shows how to make a report on a case where user asks
automatic age generator for a help. And it also shows how to get the user’s
where user will just enter location by pressing the Select a location button. This
his birth date. will trigger the system to display the exact location and
Figure 3. “Help Bro”
Registration Page
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Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, February, 2020
 de Luna et al., “HELP BRO”: A Mobile Application for Calamities and Disaster
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address of the user in need. Moreover, it will also show
what kind of service that the user request for.
Figure 6 shows the User Report page of “Help
Bro” Rescue App. When the Rescue user completely
send his request for help to the “Help Bro”, a copy of
report will be display on his mobile screen which
denote a success report. An automatic Rescue user’s
address will be displayed and types of request included
in the creation of previous request

Figure 9. Rescuer App – Report Page

Figure 7. Rescuer Figure 8. Rescuer

Login Page App – Reports
Homepage

Figure 7 shows the Rescuer Login page. It is the

interface that a Rescuer uses to login into the system to Figure 10. Rescuer – Map Interface
be able to response to the reports made by the Rescue- Figure 10 shows the exact location of the Rescue-
user. All the Rescuer-user must enter a username user who made an emergency report. Rescuer-Map
together with the password for security purposes. Interface is displayed upon pressing the Get Location
Figure 8 shows the Reports Homepage of “Help button. This interface is beneficial for the rescuer-user
Bro” Rescuer App. In Rescuer App -User Reports to pinpoint the exact location of the Rescue-user.
Homepage, all the reports made by the Rescue app that
needs attention will be displayed. Table 1. Summary of Responses of IT experts and the
Figure 9 shows the Rescuer App - Report page. It rescue professionals on the Evaluation of the System
Based on ISO 9126
shows all the reports made by a specific Rescue - user
app who requested for emergency response. The Statement Mean Verbal Interpretation
Functionality 4.20 Very Acceptable
interface displays the profile information of the Rescue Reliability 3.90 Very Acceptable
user who needs help, thus this includes his location. It Usability 4.40 Very Acceptable
also tells the Rescuer how to find the Rescue-user Efficiency 4.12 Very Acceptable
location with its current position and displaying the Maintainability 3.95 Very Acceptable
complete address. There is a button that needs to be Portability 3.40 Acceptable
triggered by the Rescuer-user to denote that he is on his Overall Total 3.995 Very Acceptable
way to the Rescue-user.
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 de Luna et al., “HELP BRO”: A Mobile Application for Calamities and Disaster
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The results of the evaluation of the study got a victims quickly. It also generates reports with precise
general weighted mean of 3.995 which means that information based on criteria.
respondents strongly agree that the mobile application
is very acceptable. MAINTAINABILITY OF THE APP
The table above also shows that maintainability got
FUNCTIONALITY OF THE APP a weighted mean of 3.95 which means that the app is
As shown in Table 1, the functionality of the app also very acceptable. This means that app can be
as evaluated by the IT experts and rescue professionals updated and modified. It can also continue to responds
got an overall mean score of 4.20 and interpreted as if there are some changes that are made. Errors can also
“very acceptable”. This implies that the app can be detected by the app and can be tested easily.
perform the requested functions appropriately. The
app can also adheres to meet the related set of PORTABILITY OF THE APP
functionality standards, conventions and even The result revealed that the app was only rated
regulating in laws. acceptable in terms of its portability. This is due to the
Moreover, the result also shows that respondents fact the app cannot be installed in a different Operating
believe that the app have the ability to prevent any System. The weighted mean of 3.4 also revealed that
authorized access. The app also produces accurate the app can be deployed easily and be moved to the
results and functions without encountering any environments. It also means that the app complies with
problems. portability standards.
As supported in the study of Abran et al [8] that
functionality is the degree to which the functions carry CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
out its basic functions or it does not. Functionality also Based from the responses of the ICT experts as well
includes a range of technical and operational as from the end-users, the mobile app is very
requirements design to protect the resources and acceptable. This means results of the evaluation
services from unauthorized actions including corresponds that the study met its objectives. The
destruction of data, information theft and network respondents agreed that the mobile app is functional,
destruction [9]. reliable, efficient, maintainable and portable. This
implies that the mobile app can help to provide
USABILITY OF THE APP assistance to the rescuers to get exact location of the
The app can easily be installed on any android victim and the exact help it needed effectively and
mobile phones. And with its simple and user- friendly efficiently.
interface, different functions of the app can easily be Taking into accounts the researchers stress out
learned. The user can easily navigate on the different that based on the findings of the study, the ff: were
modules of the app. The app can also be learned even concluded from the study: Application can be connected
if the users do not have a technical expertise. The to proper institution for direct access and faster
respondents rated the app with an overall mean of 4.4 appropriate response.Mobile application can be
which means that app is very acceptable. enhanced by putting voice recognition to report an
emergency avoiding sequence of interface interaction.A
RELIABILITY OF THE APP feature of sending the status of the rescue-user through
The respondents rated the reliability of app with an picture can help the rescuer response accordingly.The
over-all mean of 3.9 which is also acceptable. This ability of the software to give immediate instruction to
simply means that app is capable on handling errors and the rescue-user in what-to-do situation can give
can recover quickly and resume operations after failure. confidence and boost the morale of the requester.
The app also is free from any bugs and runs smoothly
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