Apps for an Emergency that can save your life, get the information you need urgently, and communicate with your loved ones.
This article supports you to prepare your smartphone with everything you need. It is free and the set-up will take you less than 15 minutes.
For the fastest approach, even jump to the last section of this article “Do it Now! 15-minutes to Emergency Preparedness on Your Mobile Phone” which has clear, quick and easy step-by-step instructions.
Watch the Video Tutorial
There is a full video tutorial taking you through how to prepare your phone in the case of emergency. More details about why and how each app supports you in an emergency is talked through.
1. Protect Yourself – Medical ID and Emergency Contacts
On your smartphone already is an app, usually called “Health”. Fill it in.
The Health app is uniquely available from your lock screen, so emergency personnel can access it.
It is a place for your emergency contact people to be found.
And a place to share any critical health information, such as allergies, conditions or medications, that a medical professional would need to treat you effectively.
It shows ONLY what you want it to show.
Fill in your profile, Health Details and Medical ID sections. It may save your life.
2. Have the Information You Need at Your Fingertips
Download apps now, before an emergency occurs. Have the information immediately, at your fingertips, not subject to any internet or mobile network outages. Get everything that may remotely be of use, so it is ready for you.
Emergency Survival and Notification Apps
Two of the best resources come from International Red Cross / Red Crescent and local Government. Download all of these that are relevant to your situation.
Red Cross / Red Crescent
Great apps from the Red Cross / Red Crescent provide local emergency notifications, detailed useful survival and medical information, and even help you get your children prepared.
Search for local Red Cross or Red Crescent apps in your country or go to redcross.org to find all their apps.
I personally like to keep the First Aid, Pet First Aid, and Emergencies app on my phone. I also keep specific apps for advice on specific types of disasters that are in my area, such as Flooding, Hurricane or Earthquake.
These can also be set up to work with your voice tools, such as Alexa or Google, and help you to give first aid via voice, for example.
Government Health and Safety Apps
Government apps are some of the best apps to reach your local resources easily. They also can give you some of the best information about where to find help or programs that may support you or your loved ones during a crisis.
Two wonderfully helpful apps are FEMA and CDC, which support the USA with Emergency and Health matters.
Weather Emergency Details and Notifications
Many emergencies are weather related or natural disasters. Apps can both give you notifications of any severe situation that is on its way and also allow you to see the progress and changes of the situation.
Make sure to get an app that shows detailed maps, has emergency information, and sends severe weather alerts. Two exceptional apps are NOAA and wunderground (from Weather Underground).
These will help you avoid a serious weather situation. They also will give you important information during a storm or natural disaster about the forecast or details on how or where to stay safe.
Know Your Neighborhood Situation and Emergency Resources using Crowdsourcing Apps
Your neighbors and community around you can be the best source of at-the-minute information of what is happening around you. Remember to use local apps such as nextdoor and other local community apps, to hear directly from your neighbors about safety hazards or resources near you.
If trying to drive out of an area, use a crowdsourced navigation app such as Waze that will give you the detail you need to stay safe and away from upcoming hazards.
And Remember the Paper Emergency Plan
While the mobile smartphone is your #1 safety device, sometimes mobile networks or internet are not available. So always have a plan organized with your loved ones about where to meet in the event of a serious emergency.
Consider choosing a place that would be turned into a shelter or emergency care point during a community-wide emergency- such as a hospital, school or community center. These areas may be able to provide many services, and also help you get online as soon as possible.
One thing you have more control over is power for your phone. Keep an extra charger and battery source in a convenient spot, so you can keep your mobile phone charged.
During an emergency, avoid using the battery down on activities that are not critical.
3. Communicate with Others in an Emergency
During an emergency, physical safety of you, your loved ones and of others is the primary concern. Quickly thereafter, your mind will wonder about others, or others worry about you.
Make it easy to contact your loved ones, by having a couple different ways in mind to get information out about your safety or situation. For example, have both a text group of your inner circle and also “mark as safe” on social media.
There are multiple ways to communicate with others, make sure you are well versed in the options, so you can find and reach everyone.
Communicate Quickly via Texts to Your Contact Circle
Texts can be an excellent way to quickly communicate with your loved ones. Texts do not take much bandwidth on mobile networks or internet channels, and can be tried over and over until then send.
Others can pick up your texts whenever they can get signal. This provides an efficient and effective way to let people know that you are safe, or update people on your status.
It is also a great way to check in on others and see how they are fairing during an emergency.
You may even want to build an “emergency contact” text group now, so you can easily send a text out to your key loved ones in the event of an emergency.
Use “Find Your …” App or Other Location Services to Share Your Location and Find Others
The “Find My” app is perhaps best known for helping you to find a lost phone. But also consider it a great emergency app, as well. You can link to other people via this app.
During an emergency, turn on your location settings to let people know where you are. You can even send them your location, so they know. If you give them access, they can also watch your movements while you have the location setting and they have permission from you.
This could be very reassuring to people, especially if you need to evacuate or you are headed to a particular place where others will know you are safe.
Broadcast that You are Safe or Your Situation via Social Media
If you have access to internet or mobile data, sending out a social media status update can be a great way to broadcast if you are safe or if you need assistance. You can also share what is happening during an emergency, which can help your friends and family.
For some of the largest social media platforms, you will also find a crisis response area or ways to “mark yourself as safe” or to find if others are “marked as safe“.
Make sure to take a quick peak at your preferred social media channel to find out how you would best use it during an emergency.
Since not everyone is on social media or may not have access after a broad emergency, social media is a good step, but don’t stop there to notify people of your status.
Keep Loved Ones Updated Using Update Apps
If you are lucky enough to have more than one person who is interested in knowing how you or someone you are caring for is doing, it may become a burden to contact all the caring people to update them. There is a way to do it one time.
You can set up a site where you post updates about yourself or someone you are looking after. Here you can write status updates, stories, and more, to communicate to all those who want to know.
You simply invite people to the page, and they can see the updates. You have control over who sees the posts.
A free site like CaringBridge (caringbridge.org) allows you to easily set up and share your “Health Journal“.
And Remember to Sign In with Organizations, so Others Can Find You
Not everyone is on Facebook. Not everyone who cares about you is fully online savvy or may not have easy access to the internet or social media after an emergency.
Broadcasting your “safe and well” or status update with an emergency organization will help your loved ones be able to know you are okay (or your update) through a wider variety of channels.
Register with the Red Cross / Red Crescent or United Nations or other key emergency relief organization. Many of these you can register online, via phone or in person.
Also you can find out that status of your loved ones through these same organizations, if they register. Make sure to make this a part of your emergency communication plan.
Do it Now! 15-minutes to Emergency Preparedness on Your Mobile Phone
It will take you 15 minutes or less to get your mobile smartphone emergency prepared.
Easy instructions:
- Fill in HEALTH App that is already on your phone (3 minutes)
- Fill in profile
- Add Health Details and Medical ID, including critical life-saving medical information and your emergency contacts
- Check the “Lock Screen” option to ensure it is available to emergency workers
- Download the following apps (6 minutes):
- Red Cross EMERGENCY, and enable the local emergency notifications
- Red Cross FIRST AID, and set up to use with voice activation
- FEMA (or your country’s government emergency relief app or UNITED NATIONS)
- CDC (or your country’s health app or WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION)
- NOAA and/or WUNDERGROUND (weather underground), and enable severe weather emergency notifications
- Any other natural disaster information app – such as Red Cross Flooding, Hurricane, Tornado, Earthquake apps or Tornado Tracker app
- Any local news source app or local crowdsourcing app, such as nextdoor
- Familiarize yourself with how to mark yourself as safe on Red Cross Safe and Well registry, Facebook Crisis Response area and nextdoor Safety page (3 minutes)
What’s Next?
Now that your smartphone is outfitted to be prepared for any emergency, make sure you have the physical kits, supplies and food that will help you be ready for emergencies at home, in your car, or in an evacuation “go bag.” The Emergency Preparedness page will help you get ready easy and quick, so you can face any situation with confidence.
Watch the video tutorials to prepare for emergencies. Car emergency preparation is key to not only accidents and weather emergencies, but also facing all the things that come up when you are out and about. Care for your pet, with advice on preparing and handling urgencies with your dog, cat, bird, horse or other pet. And it takes less than an hour to prepare a good “jump” bag – watch me prepare mine for me and my pet. I have already used it, and what a blessing to have!
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