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Emergency Aid is an app you must have but hopefully will never need. Emergency Aid is an app that is designed to help you in a variety of ways in many different emergency situations. You may have had first aid and CPR training, but in the event of a real-life emergency, this app can provide you with invaluable information, guiding you what to do, step by step.
Emergency Aid is available in the iTunes App Store for $1.99 and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Here is the link:Β Emergency Aid.
Features
1. First Aid
This app is loaded with instructions about what to do in the event of any imaginable emergency. The advice includes general incidents, such as Shock, Bleeding, Burns, and Unconsciousness, as well as specific issues, such as Stroke, Heart Attack, Choking, Allergic Reactions, Snake Bite, Embedded Object and Crush Injury. Many other incidents are listed, giving you confidence that whatever may happen, this app should have it covered.
2. Rescue Procedures
This is the category for vital information such as CPR instruction, Heimlich Maneuver, Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation and Hypothermia. You may have had training in these techniques, but in case of an emergency, having instructions handy may prove essential.
3. Survival
You don’t need to be a reality show contestant to require survival skills. You just might find yourself in an unanticipated situation that requires you to use more than your wits to survive. Examples include a house or hotel fire, wildfire or animal attack. Emergency Aid will help you deal with each of these life-threatening scenarios.
4. Road Side Incidents
This app will tell you how to deal with a dead battery, flat tire and other common motor vehicle problems. The app will also instruct you what to do if you have an accident or have to abandon your vehicle.
5. Other Uses
The app has other features, including immunization information and drug interaction warnings.
Profile Information
In the event of an emergency, information about you can be important to first responders (paramedics, police officers, etc.). As I discussed in ICE: Tech To Save Your Life, having contact information handy can be very helpful in alerting others to your medical situation.
Emergency Aid has a Profile Section where you can enter your Emergency Contact, Primary Physician, Blood Type, Allergies, Existing Conditions, Medications, Health History and MedAlerts (such as diabetic). Having this information handy can be very important in an emergency.
[important] If you lock your iPhone with a passcode, use an ICE app that will appear on your Lock Screen [/important]
Call From the App
Emergency Aid allows you to dial 911, your emergency contact, your personal contact, and your medical contact from within the app. If you’re flustered or in a rush, this one button calling can be vital. You can set these numbers by pressing Edit. If you are outside the US, you can replace 911 with the emergency number for your country.
Note: This app works on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, but the calling feature only works on the iPhone.
My Favorite Feature
What makes Emergency Aid my favorite emergency app is the Distress feature. When you activate this feature, your iPhone turns into a distress signal. You can adjust the settings, but the default is a flashing red light on a white background, flashing SOS in Morse Code (…—…). You can also change the flashing to be at different intervals and with different colors. This app even has a flashlight feature which turns your screen white.
This distress signal can be seen from 170 yards (155 meters).
Video
Here is a video from the app developer demonstrating how the features of Emergency Aid can be used. Note that this video relates to an older version of the app, but most of the features have remained the same in the current version.
Examples of iPhone Apps Being Life-Savers
In case you want more proof why having Emergency Aid on your phone is a good idea, consider the following stories where iPhone apps saved lives. In December of last year, a high school basketball coach used a similar iPhone app to guide him through CPR when a 17 year old student had a heart attack during practice. Los Angeles Times, December 3, 2010
Earlier last year, a film maker caught in the rubble after the earthquake in Haiti used iPhone apps to help him treat his wounds and prevent himself from going into shock until he was rescued 64 hours later. Cult of Mack, January 21, 2010
Handy Tip
If you need to perform CPR, timing is important. Two songs have been identified by The American Red Cross as having the ideal beat to perform CPR by:
“Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees and
“Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen
No matter which song you would prefer to dance to, I recommend you use “Staying Alive” as your CPR song. ‘Nuff said.
Bottom Line
Many first aid apps are in the iTunes App Store, but Emergency Aid is the app I keep on my iPhone because of its many features, including a distress signal.Β Emergencies are rarely expected, but you can prepare yourself by downloading Emergency Aid from the iTunes App Store today.
Do you have an app on your phone you use in case of emergencies? Have you ever had to use it? Let us know in the Comments section below!
* Image by Chris Violette
** Image by Jayel Aheram
KathyF says
What a great app! I’m off to download, along with “Staying Alive” on iTunes. Maybe they should consider lumping them together as a package deal!
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Kathy, I’m fairly shocked you don’t already have “Staying Alive” in your iTunes Library. Perhaps that’s why the developers didn’t package the two together. Isn’t everyone a Bee Gees fan?
Great idea, though to make a package deal an option, perhaps an in app purchase?
Thanks for your visit and brilliant comment! π
Kathy says
Another great service from the Wonder of Tech! People need to be prepared before the Emergency occurs. Downloading this app is a great way to be ready when an expected crisis occurs. Thanks, Carolyn!
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Kathy, You’re right, during an emergency you will want to have this app handy. That’s not the time to be downloading the app. Grab it now and then hopefully you will never, ever need it!
Thanks for stopping by and leaving an awesome comment, Kathy! π
Jens P. Berget says
Hi Carolyn,
This app looks awesome. I’m not sure if it’s as important as iRewardChart, but almost π
Jens
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Jens, I hope for everyone’s sake that iRewardChart is more useful to you every day than Emergency Aid. If you never need Emergency Aid, that’s a truly great thing. iRewardChart is life-changing but Emergency Aid is life-saving.
I’m thinking that both apps deserve a place on your phone! π
Bryce Christiansen says
Wow, this is really cool and smart of the developers. I’m sure first aid, CPR and such are like many other topics we study. Unless you use it you lose it.
Having the help you need in the palm of your hand is incredibly useful. Like you said, hopefully you never have to use it.
Thanks,
Bryce
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Bryce, you’re absolutely correct. No matter how much training you have had in first aid, there’s no telling how much you will remember when put to the test.
Yes, I would call this an essential app. Thanks so much, Bryce, for your visit and awesome comment!
Janet @ The Natural Networker says
Carolyn, aloha. Increasingly it is looking like I am going to have to get an iLife! My friend was thrilled with the calendar app I sent her the other day. Off to send her this one as well.
Best wishes for an appy week! Until next time, aloha. Janet
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Janet, I can’t blame you for craving an iOS device. Once you get one, you will have a blast discovering other apps. Just please wait until Apple’s announcement for the next generation of iDevices. It should be soon. It must be soon, right?
Make sure this is one of the first apps you grab for your new toy! You have an appy week too, my friend! π
Mike Maynard says
I shall remember to hum ‘staying alive’ if I ever do CPR. If I get a flat battery how will the phone know I have a gadget in the back of my car to deal with that? π
I keep meaning to make up a first aid kit for my car and never get around to it.
More photographs today! π
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Mike, Another great feature of this app is that it lists the suggestions for a first aid kit. Some stores sell pre-packaged first aid kits, but this app will help you make sure you have everything you might need.
Lol, we must be thinking alike. I was over on your blog leaving a comment when you were here. The picture with the spider web you posted is one of my absolute favorites! π
Rose says
This app looks really handy. Can I get it on the Android?
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Rose, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! Great question. I contacted the developers who have informed me that they are looking to launch this amazing app on Android in December.
Stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech for further details!
Adrienne says
Now that’s one cool app Carolyn! I can see where that would come in very handy unless the person in charge of going through it at the time is a nervous wreck and freaking out! Depends on what the emergency is, I might be that person!
I love the suggestion of CPR and going by the beat of “Staying Alive”. Okay, I love that song so that will be very easy to remember. That is such a great idea. I think I can even remember that. Better yet, let’s hope I never have to!
As always, you share the coolest stuff in the tech world. I’m going to tell my brother about this one too! This is one everyone should get.
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Adrienne, Actually, I think a person who is freaking out and blanking on what to do would be very much helped by this app. It’s easy to get flustered under pressure but this app can help calm you down by guiding you through what you need to do every step of the way.
You’re very right, this app is essential. I wish this app came with all phones!
Thanks so much, Adrienne, for stopping by and leaving a brilliant comment! π
MANICKAM VIJAYABANU says
Carolyn,
Wonderful tool. Very nice features. I love the Rescue Procedures and First Aid very much since most emergency situations you couldn’t think spontaneously and this app would help enormously.
Thanks for sharing the app.
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Manickam, You’re right, even the steadiest person might be flustered in a true emergency. This app give confidence that you will know what to do because it provides specific instructions for so many circumstances.
I’m always happy to share great tech, especially tech that can be a life-saver!
Thanks so much for your wonderful comment, Manickam!
Chloe says
Great service on that..its very useful.
Berna says
This app is so great! so helpful and useful. whether we like it or not we should have this application because accidents happen when we least expect it. Better prepared than sorry.
Gracelyn says
Thank you for sharing this useful apps, this is surely a great help for each one of us.
Carolyn Nicander Mohr says
Hi Gracelyn, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad you enjoyed this post. I hope you download this great app and never have to use it! π