Ethics Submission: Civic Proximity Pilot Study

Why Should It Cost So Much To Do Something Normal?

Formal ethics submission for a pilot study testing proximity-weighted emergency response systems. Documents the bureaucratic friction preventing obviously beneficial research.

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Research Methodology

Study Type

Ethical Review Protocol — Pre-registration and ethics submission for a community-based intervention study, following IRB/HREC requirements.

Design

Three-phase pilot study:

Observational baseline: Document current emergency response times

Intervention: Deploy proximity alert system in consenting community

Comparative analysis: Measure outcomes against baseline

Rigor Level

Protocol, not data. This is the ethics submission that enables data collection. The research itself follows RCT principles adapted for community intervention.

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Study Design

Phase 1: Observational

Document current emergency response times (baseline)

Map existing community volunteer networks

Establish pre-intervention metrics

Duration: 3 months

Data: Time-to-response, outcome severity, resource utilization

Phase 2: Pilot Intervention

Deploy proximity alert system in willing community

Verified responders receive location-masked alerts

Measure response times, health outcomes, participant experience

Duration: 6 months

Sample: ~500 households, opt-in

Phase 3: Analysis

Compare intervention period against baseline

Identify implementation barriers and facilitators

Document lessons learned for scale-up

Primary endpoint: Time to first-responder contact

Secondar