Santiago Rodríguez Reggeti survived two [1] back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela and has since developed an app to help families find missing relatives.

The tool addresses a critical gap in disaster response by streamlining how families locate loved ones admitted to various hospitals during chaotic aftermaths.

Rodríguez Reggeti recounted the trauma of the seismic events, describing a near-death experience during the disaster. "I thought I was going to die," he said.

Following the earthquakes, many people were reported missing or injured, leaving families to search for their relatives across different medical facilities. The survivor said that the difficulty of coordinating information during the crisis served as the primary motivation for his technological intervention.

His application is designed to track and list patients in hospitals, providing a centralized way for families to confirm where their loved ones are being treated. This system aims to reduce the panic and uncertainty that often follow large-scale natural disasters in the region.

Rodríguez Reggeti's experience reflects the immediate need for digital infrastructure in disaster zones, where traditional communication channels often fail, to manage public health data and patient locations in real time.

“"I thought I was going to die"”

The development of this app highlights a shift toward survivor-led innovation in disaster management. By focusing on the 'last mile' of recovery—reuniting families with hospitalized patients—the tool addresses a specific failure in centralized government reporting that often occurs during seismic crises in Venezuela.