Марія Бровінська Startup 23 June 2025, 09:25

Kyiv schoolchildren created a useful AR application for teaching first aid. How Firselp works, which won gold at the Infomatrix 2025 inter-agency hackathon

A team of Ukrainian schoolchildren led by a 15-year-old CEO has created an augmented reality mobile application called Firselp, which teaches users how to provide first aid in critical situations. Project leader Dmytro Palamarchuk, who just finished 9th grade, told dev.ua about the service, which aims to make basic first aid knowledge accessible, understandable, and effective even during times of stress.

Application idea

The idea for the product, says Palamarchuk, emerged from a specific request for a truly useful product. «We realized that the topic of first aid is critically underestimated. During war, during emergencies, in everyday situations, we often don’t know what to do. Only 1% of the population knows how to provide first aid — and these are mostly doctors or rescuers. We decided to change this statistic,» explains Dmytro.

At the competition, one of the key factors in the victory of the capital’s schoolchildren was a video demonstrating the application’s operation in an emergency situation:

The team’s mentors are Sergey Khramov and Sergey Vakarin.

How the service works

Firselp is a mobile application with augmented reality, which has two modes: educational and emergency. In educational mode, the user receives theory, passes tests, receives certificates, sees progress. In emergency mode, he chooses a scenario (for example, respiratory arrest), a format (AR or text instructions), and receives clear step-by-step help — even without the Internet. «Firselp is not just an application, it is a tool that can save lives, change behavioral culture and prepare a person for action,» says Dmytro.

The product is currently in active development. The prototype was tested by over 50 people, most of whom were teenagers, teachers, and parents. The feedback was overwhelming: «this should be in every school,» «I would download this instead of TikTok,» «this is missing during emergencies.» We received dozens of thanks and requests for a future version.

Dmitry and his young team

All members of the team working on the project are between 12 and 15 years old. Firselp appeared as part of the international hackathon Infomatrix 2025, where schoolchildren took gold.

«I am 15, I just finished 9th grade and have been working in IT for over 3 years. I am the founder and CEO of the Firselp project. My goal is to create innovative products with social impact that really change the world. Ivan Tyshchenko, 12 years old, a Unity developer, a 6th grade student and a graduate of the Kyiv Small Academy of Sciences, joined the team from the very beginning. Ivan specializes in 3D modeling and programming, he combines technical thinking with a creative approach and very quickly delved into the development of Firselp,» said Dmytro.

After the hackathon, where the project was recognized by the jury, mentors, and other participants, it became clear that it had potential. «At that time, Yulia Vasylenko (UI/UX designer) and Denys Kulbych (web developer) were working in another team. Their project was technically strong, but we saw common values. After informal discussions and trial cooperation, we decided to unite — and as a single team we continued to develop Firselp,» says Dmytro.

Today, the Firselp team consists of four members: me, Dmytro Palamarchuk — founder, CEO and product; Ivan Tyshchenko — Unity developer; Yulia Vasylenko — interface designer; Denis Kulbych — web developer. Artem Chmyr, who worked on the Unity prototype during the hackathon, left Firselp after the event, taking up the development of his own project, which he had long dreamed of.

The easiest part at the current stage was developing the interface structure — Yulia, according to Dmytro, designed convenient navigation, which we are gradually adapting in the code. The biggest challenge for schoolchildren now is working with AR. «We are still in the process of studying augmented reality: we are experimenting, testing, looking for the best technical solutions. It is difficult, but AR is the part that will make Firselp unique,» he explains.

Awards for winning Infomatrix 2025. In the photo from left to right: Chmyr Artem, Tyshchenko Ivan and Palamarchuk Dmytro

Money and prospects

The project is currently self-funded. The first, and so far only, financial reward is 750 euros, received for winning Infomatrix 2025. In the future, the students will need funds to rent servers, attract specialists, legal support, marketing, and support scaling.

Firselp is developing as a social startup, says Dmytro. The application will be free for the general user. «We are planning a B2B model: certification, cooperation with insurance companies, implementation in schools, integration with medical platforms. We are also working on localizations and open APIs for partnerships,» says the schoolboy.

Palamarchuk adds that the development team is not chasing big names. «We are inspired not only by global figures like Elon Musk or Sam Altman, but also by ordinary people around us — those who act, not just talk. Firselp is a response to a world where there is too much panic and too little simple, practical action,» he says.

The developers of the application believe that even at the age of 12-15 you can start building important things. «We are already doing it. Firselp is not just an application. It is a chance to save someone’s life. Follow us — the Demo version will be released soon,» announces Dmytro.

Special thanks to our mentors — for their constant support, belief in us, and guidance at every stage. Without you, this journey would have been much harder.

You can contact the developers at [email protected]

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