Reliable Emergency Access to Community Health
Partnering with communities to build adaptable emergency response
systems that expand access to basic care.
The R.E.A.C.H Stretcher
Help members of the community get to care before their condition becomes life-threatening.
Our prototype, the REACH Stretcher, aims to bridge the existing emergency healthcare gap by providing a mobile, highly portable stretcher that can be stored at common touch points within the townships of South Africa. This will allow patients to be transported safely and efficiently through dense, uneven areas to an ambulance or clinic.
We’ve developed a stretcher that is both rugged and easy to maintain – designed with locally sourced materials and bicycle parts, allowing it to be repaired and adapted using tools and skills already present in the community.
As part of a collaboration between Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) and MIT’s D-Lab, the project REACH—Reliable Emergency Access for Community Health— was formed to focus on improving emergency medical transportation in underserved areas of South Africa.
Lebo Molete, a health policy advocate in South Africa, brought us the problem: Residents in South African townships face barriers to emergency care due to inadequate transportation infrastructure and emergency response systems. Rough terrain and narrow paths hinder access for vehicles, and discrimination and concerns over safety force residents to resort to unsafe and undignified methods such as carrying patients on their backs or in wheelbarrows. This results in delayed care and poses additional risks, particularly for vulnerable populations.
We began our first round of design and prototyping in the Spring of 2024. In January 2025, we made our initial trip to South Africa with Lebo Molete to meet with community members and learn about the gaps in their emergency healthcare systems. Through the Tekano Fellowship network, our first stop was a meeting with Mzikhona Mgedle, the founder of Langa Bicycle Hub. The team took us through the Langa township by bike, explaining the different areas and terrain of the township and the existing infrastructure. We saw homes constructed of debris and found materials where there was no access to clean water or electricity. We also spent time with Yvette Andrews, the Clinical Program Coordinator for Langa, who provided an unfiltered look into the realities of healthcare in townships. She introduced us to the coordinator of Langa’s 42 community healthcare workers (CHWs), who gave us a tour of their small wellness center.
The insight we gained during this visit went past what our research could tell us, and helped us see the logistical and systemic barriers first-hand. Collectively, we determined that this community site would be the best place for our stretcher to operate from.
Our Core Initiatives
The need for responsive, community-centered healthcare solutions is urgent and through REACH, we’ve seen how engineering, collaboration, and local leadership can come together to make a real difference.
Community-Centered Solutions
In Langa, we were able to establish a collaborative relationship with the Langa Safety Patrol, present to the staff of Vanguard Community Health Centre, perform an instructional demonstration to the entire staff of Community Health Workers, identify and partner with local businesses, distribute hundreds of informative flyers in both English and isiXhosa, and hold a parade through the streets with all of our partners, healthcare staff, and community members. The parade acted as a celebration of the start of the next stage of the project: a collaborative testing phase that will give us vital feedback from the community itself.
Our Role as Designers
Our time in Langa reinforced the importance of designing with communities, not for them. From local healthcare workers to entrepreneurs, we were able to work in tandem with the community to co-create designs for a stretcher aimed at improving access to emergency care.
Our project is as much about systems and relationships as it is about hardware. By working collaboratively, we’re not only building a product, we are helping to lay the groundwork for a sustainable emergency care infrastructure that can scale to other townships.
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“Most of the patients are staying alone in their shacks. They don’t have the money to Uber, and they are very sick. This [REACH] will help a lot.”
Community Health Worker
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