Here is an assignment for my Wintersession Liberal class entitled Environmental Disasters where we studied various disasters worldwide, their effects, and the various responses humans have given to defends against or lessen the impact of. This case was created as a general response to one of the most severe and most common: earthquakes.
Within the past 15 years there have been 27 earthquakes around the world, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), that have killed over 1000 people, with the top 5 averaging over 150,000 deaths. Within the last 5 years the massive earthquakes in in countries like Haiti, Chile, Nepal, China and Japan have called for massive reform in the safety precautions for those in active margins along plate boundaries. Within the US for example, numerous organizations and groups have placed helpful resources online for those in earthquake-prone areas like California and Alaska including information about earthquakes and constructing your own emergency kits for the home, car, and workplace. Some of these organizations and groups include: federal agencies like The Federal Emergency Management Agency, The Red Cross, The Center for Disease Control; news organizations like The San Francisco Chronicle and The Los Angeles Times; and online sources like www.survivor-goods.com.
Many of these lists for pre-earthquake preparation are very extensive and are generally divided into location subcategories for home, car and work. Each of these subcategories are broken down further into preparation of food and water, first aid kit supplies, tools, sanitation, clothing and bedding, and important documents. If followed correctly and a person was found in the midst of an earthquake, or a tsunami or landslide that might follow one, they would be generally prepared for the aftermath. Though people might not be in their home, car or at their workplace when the earthquake occurs. In that case all the supplies they had are no longer useful and readily available and they have to rely on what they have on their person at that moment.
This idea led me to my initial idea of an emergency kit built into the case of an iPhone. It would have some general necessities for someone that is trapped or caught in the aftermath of an Earthquake. Because the size of an iPhone can cause some limitations of what can go into the case without making it excessively bulky, and ideally all of the objects within the case would be both shockproof and waterproof, there is still enough room for some lifesaving gadgets. The design for the Emergency iPhone Case (EIC) will include a 2.5in knife, emergency whistle, magnesium firestarter block, compass, waterproof light, and both a philips and flathead screwdriver bits. All of the objects within this list are waterproof and shockproof within the case. The case is specifically made for the iPhone 6+ but can be changed and manipulated. Below are photos of an all wooden prototype including all of the tools built to scale.
