It’s a blended team that brings success

Prometeo developers refined their solution with the help of first responders

In 2018, a group of three developers entered the inaugural Call for Code challenge with a solution to help firefighters in their native Catalonia, Spain. That year, Salomé Valero, Marco Emilio Rodriguez Serrano, and Josep Rafols were not successful with their submission.

Disappointed but not deterred, the team then engaged Joan Herrera, a firefighter they had met when testing prototypes. Herrera helped them focus their solution on a specific problem firefighters face: exposure to toxins that can lead to long-term respiratory problems. To help with the medical aspects of the solution, Herrera brought in nurse Vicenç Ferrés Padró. This new focus on a very specific yet far-reaching problem was acknowledged by the judges in 2019: the team went on to win the Call for Code grand prize that year.

“We wanted to help firefighters and resolve a real problem they have: the cumulative effect of smoke and toxic substances they breath. Joan Herrera had already been working with a nurse, Vicenç Ferrés Padró, on this subject for many years but without technology. So the main point here was the multidisciplinary and the skills in different areas: emergencies, health and technology.”
— Salomé Valero

The moral of the story? A combination of technologists and subject matter experts can uncover simple innovations with profound impact. The Prometeo team are now field-testing their Internet-of-Things (IoT) solution with firefighters in Barcelona. Think you have what it takes to form a team and fight back against COVID-19 and climate change?