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Factsheet

  • Decisions For Heroes is a web application that saves lives, it does this by helping rescue teams record and analyze their rescue operations and training.
  • Decisions For Heroes was trialled for 8 months with 1,800 rescuers in 5 countries.
  • The system has a 'baked-in' feedback system, that allows users leave improvement suggestions against each page.
  • There is no software to download. Users access the tool as a web application through their internet browser.
  • Typical users include Mountain Rescue, Coast Guard, Search & Rescue Dogs, Sheriff Depts., Lifeboats, and Urban Search & Rescue teams.
  • Users sign-in after each incident or training exercise to type in their activity report. Decisions For Heroes automatically adds their data to their teams records, and updates their stats.
  • Rescue teams pay a monthly subscription to gain access to the service.
  • The initial Decisions For Heroes service was built by founder Robin Blandford in 2008.
  • Company founder Robin Blandford saw the global use of this service having developed a prototype version of the software for his own rescue team. The resulting data was so good, that he decided there was a business in it.
  • Having initially worked abroad, Robin Blandford now lives and works from Ireland, Europe.

Sample interview questions

If you would like to interview company founder Robin Blandford for print, audio, or video production here are some sample questions you could ask.

On the business of rescue...
  • Rescue has a lot of disciplines, how did you find out what worked?
  • How can Decisions For Heroes help a team optimize their rescue work?
  • What systems are you replacing and who are your competitors?
  • What makes a web application a suitable platform for this service?
  • Can you give an example of how you improve team communications?
  • How can rescue teams get started?
On founding a business...
  • This is really niche! What made you think of combining technology and rescue?
  • What did you experience as one of 20 finalists in the European Seedcamp competition?
  • Why is it so important to have an elevator pitch?
  • Explain to me why 'fail cheap and fail fast' so important?
  • What was your background before this company?

Biographical details

Robin Blandford, Company Director.

In May 2008 at age 24, company founder Robin Blandford left an accelerated management career programme with Thomson Reuters, to launch his own company ByteSurgery Ltd. Robin achieved the remarkable, and used his experiences as a volunteer cliff rescue climber with the Irish Coast Guard, to build and launch a debut product 'Decisions For Heroes'.

Having left full-time employment, Robin set off travelling for a summer in the United States with his laptop. A prototype product soon came together, and every day for 3 months, Robin would check his inbox for feature requests, build them while Europe slept, and release a new version the next day. The product, which came from this release-early, release-often process was structured into a company on return to Ireland, and is now used by rescue teams around the world.

Before working with Thomson Reuters, Robin was awarded a B.Eng. (Hons) in Digital Media Engineering from Dublin City University (2001-2006). He was identified early in his graduate recruitment cycle as 'one to watch' and has since worked professionally in digital media in London, Dublin, and Singapore. Robin is a proven innovator with strong technical ability and team leadership.

Industry Awards

  • Finalist, 2009 The Search for Europe's Top Start-up, Innovate!Europe.
  • Finalist, 2009 Best Technology Blogger, Irish Blog Awards.
  • Finalist, 2008 Top 20 European Seed Companies, Seedcamp.
  • Finalist, 2008 Most Innovative Website, Irish Web Awards.
  • Finalist, 2008 Best Web App, Irish Web Awards.
  • Finalist, 2008 Best Technology Site, Irish Web Awards.
  • Winner, 2008 Best Technology Blogger, Irish Blog Awards.

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Contact details

You can interview company founder Robin Blandford by phone or in person.

Personal phone: +353 (0)86 328 7563

Email: robin@bytesurgery.com

If you need to send a package, please send deliveries to:

Decisions For Heroes,
ByteSurgery Ltd.,
Docklands Innovation Park,
128-130 East Wall Road,
Dublin 3, Ireland.

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