R-0042whatsapp
U5 Urgent412 Elm Street, Riverside
Medical — evacuation
U5 CriticalElderly + mobilityTrapped upstairsMatch: Riverside Medical (0.8km)
WA · 45 min ago · no signalPending triage
Flash flooding response · workflow
A flash flooding response — walked through end to end
Built from real last-mile coordination patterns in disaster response work. Names and addresses shown have been anonymized.
Section 1 · The situation
The scenario
Flash flooding hits a coastal corridor mid-afternoon. Several NGOs, mutual aid groups, a municipal shelter network, and a field clinic respond together. Requests arrive by phone, web form, WhatsApp, and handwritten notes from the shelter intake desk. AidGrid coordinates the response across organizations.
Many
requests across channels
Some
flagged urgent by AI for review
A few
duplicates caught before duplicate delivery
6+
organizations on the shared queue
Ranges, not exact incident counts. Exact figures are only published when a partner organization verifies them.
What comes in — before triageLIVE
- whatsappR-014745s ago412 Elm St, RiversideMedical"Abuela, 82, atrapada arriba. Agua subiendo. No puede bajar."
- phoneR-01462m agoOak St & 3rd AveFood / Water"Family of four, no power since 4pm, need water and shelf food."
- field noteR-01454m agoNear the old gas station on OakShelter"Need shelter for family — handwritten note from intake desk."
- webR-01446m ago118 Cypress LnMedical supplies"Insulin running out by morning — wife is diabetic."
- whatsappR-01437m agoRiverside corridorTransport"Vecinos no pueden salir, calle inundada. Buscando lancha."
Messy, multilingual, incomplete — and arriving from every direction. This is what AidGrid is built to handle.
Section 2 · The triage
AI reads every request. Scores urgency. Flags duplicates.
Three cases from the queue — six hours in.
R-0089web + whatsapp
U3 HighOak Street & 3rd Avenue
Food / Water — family of 4
U3 HighDuplicate of R-0091 (20m)Match: Riverside Food Point (0.4km)
Web 8:14 · WA 8:34 — same locationDuplicate flagged
R-0104field_note
U2 StandardNear the old gas station on Oak
Shelter — family
U2 ModerateLocation unresolvedNo resource match
Field note · 2h ago · intake deskInfo needed
Section 3 · The decision
The coordinator acts.
Triage signals are suggestions. Routing decisions are recorded, timestamped, and attributed.
- R-0042Assigned · 8:47pm
Critical — assign + backup
- 01Opens triage panel: U5, medical indicators, two nearest teams visible.
- 02Routes to Riverside Medical Team; adds St. Clare's Clinic as backup.
- 03Adds note: "Elderly resident, mobility limited, upstairs bedroom, windows boarded."
- R-0091 ↔ R-0089Merged · single case active
Duplicate — confirm merge
- 01Reviews duplicate cluster: web form + WhatsApp, 20 minutes apart, same address.
- 02Confirms merge — both submissions collapse into a single case (#R-0089).
- 03Adds note: "Family of 4 at Oak and 3rd, consolidating two submissions."
- R-0104Awaiting info · request sent
Missing info — clarify
- 01Sees location flag: "Old gas station on Oak" cannot be geocoded.
- 02Sends follow-up to submitter: "Specific address or nearest cross street?"
- 03Auto-escalates to manual review if no reply in 30 minutes.
Queue · after actions124 active → 121 active
R-0042whatsapp
U5 Urgent412 Elm Street, Riverside
Medical — evacuation
Assigned · Riverside Medical Team
R-0089web + whatsapp
U3 HighOak Street & 3rd Avenue
Food / Water
Routed · Riverside Food Point
R-0104field_note
U2 StandardOak Street — pending clarification
Shelter
Awaiting info
Section 4 · The outcome
From request to resolved.
Case #R-0042 — the critical case at 412 Elm — was routed to Riverside Medical Team at 8:47pm. The team arrived at 9:03pm, sixteen minutes after the coordinator approved routing. The resident was evacuated safely. Status: Resolved.
Case #R-0091 — the duplicate — was merged into #R-0089 and routed to the food point at 8:52pm. One delivery, one family served. No second truck dispatched.
Case #R-0104 — missing info — received a location clarification at 8:35pm: "The old Valero station on Oak, Unit 3." Coordinator assigned to shelter at 8:38pm.
Case history · #R-0042Resolved
- 8:02pmSubmitter
Case submitted via WhatsApp.
- 8:02pmAidGrid AI
Triage complete — U5 Critical, medical indicators flagged.
- 8:03pmAidGrid AI
Resource match suggestions generated (2 teams within 2.5km).
- 8:45pmCoordinator
Reviewed triage panel.
- 8:47pmCoordinator
Assigned to Riverside Medical Team — note: elderly, mobility limited.
- 9:03pmField team
Status update: En route.
- 9:23pmField team
Status update: On site.
- 9:47pmCoordinator
Marked Resolved — resident evacuated safely.
Section 5 · The dashboard
Your coordination dashboard — 6 hours in.
One view. Every case. Sorted by what needs attention most.
0
received
0
urgent
0
assigned
0
resolved
0
stale
AllPendingAssignedUrgentStale
| Case | U | Location | Need | Status | Source | Open | Assigned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-0042 | U5 | 412 Elm St | Medical | Assigned | 1h 02m | Riverside Medical | |
| R-0067 | U5 | 118 Cypress Ln | Medical supplies | En route | web | 0h 48m | St. Clare's |
| R-0073 | U4 | Maple & 2nd | Wellness check | Pending | phone | 0h 41m | — |
| R-0089 | U3 | Oak & 3rd Ave | Food / Water | Routed | web+wa | 0h 33m | Riverside Food Pt. |
| R-0091 | U3 | Oak & 3rd Ave | Food / Water | Merged → R-0089 | 0h 27m | — | |
| R-0098 | U4 | Riverside Apts C | Formula / diapers | Assigned | web | 0h 22m | Mutual Aid SW |
| R-0104 | U2 | Oak — pending | Shelter | Awaiting info | field note | 2h 04m | — |
| R-0112 | U1 | Pine & 5th | Hygiene kit | Queued | web | 0h 17m | — |
| R-0119 | U4 | Birch Ct | Transport | Assigned | phone | 0h 12m | Mutual Aid NE |
| R-0124 | U2 | Shelter intake | Translation (VI) | Resolved | field note | 0h 36m | St. Clare's |
All coordinators see the same view. No more checking Slack for updates. No more asking "did anyone handle this?"
Section 6 · The boundary
The part AI can't do.
AI reads every request. It scores, flags, and suggests. But the decision — who goes where, who needs what first, when to escalate — that's the coordinator's. AidGrid is built for human judgment, not around it. Every routing decision is recorded. Every outcome is tracked. Every coordinator's call is visible to the team.
Human-approved routing·Not an emergency dispatch service
NoteThis scenario is a workflow example, not a specific real case. Similar patterns — duplicate detection, shelter redirection, and coordinator approval — have been seen in recent response work with partner organizations. See field results for concrete operator outcomes.