Life Saving Smartphones: During Emergencies They Can Make All the Difference in the World

First off, I would like to offer my condolences to all of those affected by the tragic event that occurred today during the Boston Marathon.  My heart goes out to all of you.  To the readers of this website, I see you as an extension of my family and sincerely hope that everything is okay with you and your loved ones.  This post is inspired by today’s events as an effort to help anyone who may be engrossed in a future crisis situation.

In the Event of an Emergency

When panic hits, it’s hard to think clearly.  In the vent that you are placed in a situation of immediate danger, remember that 911 is always available, regardless of you being out of minutes for the current month.  Furthermore, in the vent that you are in another country dialing 112 is the alternative emergency number if 911 fails to work for you.

Wi-Fi May Be Your Best Friend

During emergencies cellular networks may become inundated with a high volume of activity to the point that you may not even be able to place a call or send a text message.  In this event, Wi-Fi can be your savior.  I strongly encourage you to immediately get yourself a Google Voice Number, and then download the app GrooVeIP.  This app will enable you to make phone calls over wifi, even when using a tablet.

Another reason to enable Wi-Fi on your smartphone is to regain the ability to message your friends and family using services such as Google Talk, Google Messenger or iMessage.  These benefit of these services is that do not require a cellular connection in order to function, so you won’t have to worry about being out of touch in the chance your standard text messaging service fails to deliver.  Connecting to a wireless network also provides you with the opportunity to post to your social media outlets as another means to reach out and explain the status of your situation.

Be Willing to Help Others

In the event that you are one of the few people who are able to obtain a data connection, please share the wealth.  If you do indeed have the wireless hotspot feature built into your plan, there would be no better time to turn it on and unselfishly allow others to use your signal for emergency use.  Disabling your password for the time being is something that you should also remember.

Find Your Loved Ones

There are several apps that enable your location to be found by people of your choosing.  For example, iOS has the Find My Phone feature and Android allows users to locate one another using Latitude that is built into the Google Maps app.  Remember to make sure that you have the appropriate location settings enabled so that you can actually be found.

Google Latitude allows you to find family and friends, wherever they may be.

I hope that you take the necessary steps and at set up at least one of the solutions that I have provided.  Please share this article with your loved ones because, well…you just never know.  We never want to be in a situation where we have to use these tools, but thankfully we can prepare ourselves if the time ever comes to use them.