Last week my App Smart column was about apps that can help you prepare for and deal with all sorts of different emergency situations. Since they’re portable and we tend to take them almost everywhere with us, smartphones can be an incredibly useful emergency tool because even if you’re not using them to call for help, they can carry apps packed with useful data.
The American Red Cross has an app that helps in delivering first aid in emergency medical situations. It’s designed so that it’s clearly split into different sections for learning, preparing and dealing with an emergency. Tapping the big “!” emergency button brings up a list of different situations the app has information on, each with a small icon to guide your choice.
This data covers everything from allergies and asthma attacks to strokes and unconsciousness. Choosing one of the options takes you to a page that’s full of easy-to-follow data on what to do, arranged as a step-by-step guide. There’s even a button to call 911, and in some cases a short video or a diagram to guide you through the emergency. Once you’ve dealt with the situation, you may find it useful to click on the “learn more” button at the bottom of these pages, which takes you to even more information on what to do next.
This app is simple, straightforward and very easy to use — exactly what you need in an emergency. It’s free on iOS and Android.
Keeping so-called “ICE” (in case of emergency) information on your devices, is a great idea nowadays because it can really help emergency response teams. Free Android app ICE from Sera Apps is a good option, because it’s simple and the icons on its main page give quick access to different sorts of data like medical information or emergency contact details. On iOS a good equivalent is Minute Apps’ ICE (In Case Of Emergency) app. It’s $2, but this app even allows you to store photos of your ID cards.
FEMA has its own apps for use in disaster or emergency situations. The apps, as you may expect from a government body, are very dry in style and perhaps boring in design, but they do contain a lot of data. The app’s two main sections ask “are you prepared?” and “are you a disaster survivor?” Tapping on the relevant button takes you either to pages of data on how to prepare for emergencies like severe storms or to data on how to call for help. You can make these calls from inside the app, through a phone or Web link. The app also has data on disaster recovery centers across the United States.
The FEMA apps (iOS and Android) are free and very “official,” so it’s probably worth keeping them handy. But much of the data they contain is available elsewhere, too, and other apps may be more user-friendly in the case of a real life emergency.
It’s worth noting that in a disaster you may not be able to get power or an Internet connection, and in an emergency every moment counts. So if you’re planning on using your phone as an emergency multitool, it’s probably best to download apps well ahead of time.
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The ABC News app is now available as a free Windows Phone 8 app from Microsoft’s App Store. It’s full of ABC’s News content, in article and video form, and you can also see news that’s trending.