Hello. I’m a pediatrician born, raised, and trained in Puerto Rico (PR), and currently live in Dallas, Texas. See my “intro post” Introduction to Julio Bracero-Rodriguez, pediatrician.
Like many physicians, I am starting a collection drive… but for communication purposes only, not medicines. I donated 5 satellite phones and hope to send 5-10 more. But satellite phones are not sustainable.
I am going to PR in the next couple of weeks and plan to purchase MANY of these babies beforehand. Not just the consumer ones (goTenna Mesh) but several of the “pros” as well. I would love to test these out… especially at West + Southwest + South of PR. I would love to network with anyone in PR available to help. Of course, I will see all of your little ones… that will be a lot of house calls!
My hometown, the city of Lajas, is actually a valley - meaning it’s flat. That’ll be my testing ground. Afterwards, I simply plan to keep on going. My brother can get in touch with me every once in a while… via a “random” WiFi signal, just to text via Facebook messenger. That’s not the most efficient use of limited bandwidth. Nor the most secure. You can buy some prepaid cards in PR, and these are hit-and-miss, but people use their smartphones and they’re not gonna go back to a “regular phone”. Period.
In fact, a 2015 Pew Research Center report (U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015) shows that the most used app is text messaging. Don’t get me started that “poor” or even elderly people cannot use a smartphone, because that’s simply not true (quite the opposite actually). Yes, I’ll be making doctor house calls… funny how those that live in remote areas will actually serve as great relay nodes. I’ll leave them with solar-powered chargers so they can at least power their usual devices, and charge the goTennas.
People need a sense of normalcy in their lives. Many still have to go to work, and not on the best of conditions. A father able to text their family “I’m on my way”… mom being able to text “get diapers”, “don’t forget to stop by the Post Office”, “baby has a fever” or simply “te quiero mucho mi vida”, now THAT goes a long way.
Not forgetting that my doctor colleagues need a way to communicate a bit more directly…and can create a secure hospital network just for them.
So… what do you guys think? Thoughts? Idealist much? I really don’t think so. But I’m an empiric guy and need some data.
Lastly, when this nightmare is over, I will donate most of the hardware… and the data, so it can be put to good use somewhere else.