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| The required application in your phone to help you in an emergency |
Most emergencies do not have a advance warning, so it is important to download apps on your phone that can help you in an emergency and learn to use your phone's Emergency Call (SOS) feature to prepare for any emergency that you may encounter be it. Flood, hurricane, fire, earthquake, medical emergency, etc.
Here are the main types of apps you must have on your phone and the main emergency call features built into your phone to help you in any emergency situation:
1- Offline Messaging App:
In severe emergencies, internet connectivity is often lost, making it difficult to communicate with others. To solve this problem, it is recommended to download some messaging applications that can be used without the Internet.
Most of these apps use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to communicate with those around you rather than relying on cellular data. You can message other people as long as they have the same app installed on their phone and are within 150-300 feet of you.
If you are an Android phone user, Briar is the right choice. iPhone users can download the Bridgefy app.
2- An application to communicate with those around you:
If your internet connection is uninterrupted, you can try the Zello app, which lets you call people on mobile data or WiFi. Zello has public and private channels where you can chat and get help from others around you.
You can create private channels so that only specific people can access messages, but there are also public channels that anyone can join. Search for general information like the weather or specific information like hurricanes or city names to see if there are public Zello channels.
When you're connected to a public channel in the Zello app, you can lock your phone and still hear everyone speaking on that channel, which is especially useful in an emergency. But if the Zello server goes down, the app won't work.
This app is available for Android phone users on the Google Play Store and iPhone users on the App Store
3- Apps to share your location with others:
If you need to contact the emergency services, there are several apps you can use to share your location with them. Easily share your location with mapping apps like Google Maps or SirenGPS via iMessage and WhatsApp on your phone.
4- Applications that will teach you first aid:
If you have a health emergency, the Red Crescent App available in your country on Google Play and App Store can help. If the Red Crescent app is not available in your country, you can contact the helpline.
Not only can you search nearby hospitals, but you can also call emergency services and follow first aid instructions.
5- Use the emergency SOS function built into your phone:
Smartphones are equipped with many SOS functions (let's save ourselves or our lives) so it is important to be aware of them so that you can use them in emergency situations.
Emergency SOS on iPhone:
With your iPhone's Emergency SOS functionality, you can quickly and easily call for help and alert your contacts in an emergency. When you place an emergency call, your iPhone automatically calls your local emergency number.
To make emergency calls on an iPhone 8 or later:
- Press and hold the Side button and either volume button until the SOS slider appears.
- Drag the Emergency Call slider to call the emergency services. If you hold down the Side and Volume buttons without dragging the slider, the phone will start a countdown and beep. If you stop pressing both buttons after the countdown ends, your iPhone will automatically call emergency services.
How to make emergency calls on iPhone 7 or earlier:
- Quickly press the side or top button 5 times and the emergency call slider will appear.
- Drag the Emergency SOS Call slider to call the emergency services.
When the call ends, your iPhone will send a text message to your emergency contacts stating your current location. If location sharing services are disabled, they will be enabled temporarily. If you change your location, your contacts will be updated and you will be notified after about 10 minutes.
On the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, you can also use the Satellite Emergency SOS feature to text emergency services when you don't have cellular service or Wi-Fi. You can also use the Find My app to share your location with others via satellite. If you want to understand the mechanism of the iPhone 14 mobile phone satellite SOS emergency call
These iPhone models can also call emergency services and send a message to emergency contacts when a serious car accident is detected.
Emergency SOS in Android phones:
On Android phones with Android 12 and above, you can enable the SOS feature to ask for help, remind contacts, share your location, record emergency videos, and other emergencies you encounter. Follow the steps below to enable this feature:
- Open the Settings app on your phone.
- Click on the (Security and Emergency) option and select (Emergency SOS).
- Enable the Use Emergency SOS option. You can also trigger the alarm sound to play a loud tone when the emergency call function begins to activate.
- To enable emergency actions that must be performed in order to use the emergency call feature, the following actions are available:
- Call emergency services: You can call your local emergency number. In areas with multiple emergency numbers, the police number is the default. To change the number called, click on options (call emergency numbers), enter a new number, and then click (save).
- Share information with emergency contacts: You can share your current location and latest news with emergency contacts.
- Emergency Video Recording: Record a video to share with emergency contacts or record and save.
And when you find yourself in an emergency situation, you can trigger an emergency action of your choice by pressing the power button five or more times. Then it will start a 5 second countdown before the emergency procedure starts, after which the emergency procedure will start according to your settings.