Launching today out of our Summer 2015 class, Call9 is a startup that has built an app that connects emergency room doctors to people in need of urgent care.

The average ambulance wait time is 15 minutes — a time period that can be far too long to wait for medical assistance in emergency situations. Call9 is a mobile app that bridges that gap by connecting patients in need of urgent care with an on-call emergency room doctor via video chat within one minute.

Call9’s service is targeted to businesses that already have nurses or staff trained in First Aid on hand (think nursing homes, schools, and hotels) but need extra help in the event of medical emergencies.

TechCrunch’s Christine Magee wrote about Call9 in a story published today: 

“Call9 has developed a 911 alternative for nursing homes, schools, and
hotels to use in case of a medical emergency. The nurse, teacher, or
concierge can open the Call9 app to immediately connect, via video chat,
to an on-call ER doctor. The doctor assesses what’s going on with the
patient, instructs the person on the ground how to perform basic medical
procedures and administer medicine, and hits a button to order an
ambulance if necessary.

The app is just part one of Call9’s two-pronged approach to on-demand
urgent care. The company distributes mobile emergency kits to each
facility, which include an EKG machine, ultrasound machine, and other
equipment necessary to perform bedside laboratory tests. The data collected by these machines is uploaded into the cloud,
which means that the remote doctor can see the results of an ultrasound
on his screen in real-time and advise the nurse on where to place her
hands, for instance.”

Read more in-depth about Call9, its founding team, its business model, and more in TechCrunch here. And you can also participate in the related discussion on Hacker News here.