Leveraging Technology To Take Back The Clock with Damian McKeon and Ashley Hamilton

“In a time-constrained environment, technology has to be as intuitive as possible.” - Damian McKeonThere’s a big problem that first responders face. When you arrive on the scene of an emergency, and it’s somewhere you’ve never been before, you waste a lot of time figuring out where to go. Mission-critical teams typically have 300 seconds or less to solve problems where the consequence of failure is death or catastrophic loss.Today, I have the pleasure of hosting two extraordinary guests, Ashley Hamilton and Damian McKeon, the co-founders of Aiki. Ashley and Damian recognized this problem and are now revolutionizing the world of emergency response with intuitive, symbol-based indoor mapping. Damian brings over 29 years of experience in the fire service and 27 years as an EMT paramedic in Texas. A seasoned professional, Damian has served in the United States Army as a Green Beret and the 19th Special Forces. He has traveled the world sharing his expertise, tactics, and tactical medicine. With 15 years of firefighting experience, including six years in the Special Operations Battalion, Ashley excels in solving complex problems in hazardous and restrictive environments. She serves as an Emergency Planning Specialist for the Austin Fire Department. She has pioneered programs that require and enable first responders and command staff to make rapid, secure, and efficient decisions using symbols instead of written language.In this conversation, Damian, Ashley, and I discuss the need to leverage technology for emergency response, their mission to empower children in crises, the need for more effective responses to active shooter incidents, the power of real-time communication and instant notification systems in schools, the future of Aiki, and more.HighlightsAshley’s journey from financial advisor to firefighterDamian’s unique background in the fire service, Special Forces, and as a medicLeveraging data and technology to help first responders save livesThe process of digitizing paper plans and maps to turn unstructured data into structured dataRecognizing the need and opportunity to empower children in emergenciesThe horrific statistics on mass shootings and the need for faster response timesHow real-time, intuitive, visual data can transform the way first responders and individuals respond to a crisis situationEmpowering students and teachers during a school shootingThe individual use cases for Aiki for end users and first respondersCreating an interface for real-time communication during emergenciesUsing visual references and symbols for efficient information transmissionThe future of AikiWhat people-driven tech means to Damian and AshleyConnect with Damian McKeon and Ashley HamiltonAiki Website https://www.aikiplans.com/Ashley Hamilton on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/whatahamiam/Damian McKeon on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/damian-mckeon-955428223/
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