It should have been on the market decades ago. But it needed an 11-year-old Johan and his mother Kerstin to float up to the surface. Johan was in a hospital bed for weeks and they experienced the obvious and built-in dilemma when it comes to communicating with the busy nurses out in the corridor. One Emergency-Alarm button to use for every need – be it a simple question about lunch, where to find a towel, or an acute medical issue.
In March 2020 the company Inven2 invited employees within the health region South-East in Norway to an idea competition. Inven2 is specializing in innovation and contributes to the process of commercializing good ideas from talented researchers and innovators, turning them into products and services that make a difference. The best ideas were to win the Inven2 Idea Award 2020.
Johan's and mother Kerstin Aabakken's idea were one of five teams who shared second place. The idea was initially called "When the patient wants something: A communication solution for patients that can reduce the spread of infection, support and streamline work in hospitals and other healthcare institutions".
A year later the concept was developed into Ping4Help and a private company was registered in Oslo, Norway with four equal part owners - all former colleagues with Kerstin and from business fields that come in handy – business development, communication, branding, and IT-engineering.