Tell Us Your Technology Tips for Preparedness

Have you ever used your smartphone in an emergency and learned some best practices?

Do you store your important contact information and family emergency plan in the cloud in case you cannot obtain a physical copy?

Do you share emergency tips on social media like Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest?

Did you communicate with your friends during a disaster such as Sandy?

We invite you to share!

Sometimes We use the cellular phone to notify an emergency case, I remember when my wife was driving by an important avenue in Guadalajara Mexico in a raining day and suddenly She was into a river because the water level grow up more tham a meter. She follow my recomendation about call me immedidtelly when She has any kind of emergency, due this action I can gave her instructions to call the Civil Defense Department immediately and She received support saving her life and keep safe until I arrive with Firefighting and paramedics help.

Another issue is save the contact name first that anybody in your cell phone, when you have any emergency case just dial with a short dial code

Obviusly we can use the GPS device and another instant messages like Whats up, facebook, twiter or several apps available.

We can write some instructions or short procedures in the Notes or Windows files in our cellphones.

Hi Cesar,

Thanks for sharing that story. What a great outcome. It's great to share that with the community - others will think about this and hopefully avoid a personal disaster as a result.

I really like your idea of creating a brief emergency plan and saving as a text file. I plan on doing this myself. Never thought to do it that way!

-Lauren

For College Students Who Are Away From Home:

TIPS:

1. Be sure to write down your parents, family members and close friends phone numbers in case you do not have cell phone use.  This will help you reach everyone without delay.

2. Give all family members the college student's best friends  and roommate's cell phone numbers and email addresses of their parents so that in case of emergency they can provide each other comfort in knowing their child(ren) are not alone.

3. Research and review the emergency plans for your university in case something happens and you are out of touch with friends. 

4. Get the name of an adminstrator, professor or staffer at the university in case you are without to call for assistance and information. 

5.  Research your university's emergency plan and procedures and become familiar with them.

These are great tips Suzanne! I really like the one about sharing phone numbers, email with your college student's closest friends. Especially when your child goes to school far away from home, this information could become priceless in a time of emergency or concern.

-Lauren

I couldn't help but mention an App we've built called InCaseofCrisis which Universities, Companies, Government agencies are now using and one University will be developing a Students Abroud Crisis Plan shortly for all of their traveling students.  The Plans are built in the cloud and downloaded to your Phone so you don't need communications access in an emergency.  You build the Responses for major events and important contact information (if available) in the cloud and then they're downloaded onto the phone.  Updates are made in the Cloud and downloaded whenever needed.  You can even send Push Notifications if communications are available.

Our company has faced Anthrax lockdowns in DC, 911 employees in the Pentagon, Earthquakes and other situations and are using InCaseofCrisis for all of our Crisis Plan distributions to employees.  We can also print out the plan for those without iPhones or Androids.  The app was also used by 24 Hour Fitness at the summer Olympics as they managed the US Training Facility in London.   I hope this gives folks some ideas of how an App can help.

1. I use the "ICE: In Case of Emergency" app to store my medical information, & emergency contacts. You can lock your phone and paramedics can still have access to it. I once had to call 911 for help, and I just gave them my phone which answered all of their questions. They told me they wish everyone would have this app or one like it. If you are unable to answer their questions, your critical info is available to them. It saves time and may save your life.

2. Red Cross has great apps: First Aid app (walks you through what to do), Earthquake, Wildfire & Hurricane apps alerts you to events and shelter locations . 

3. "Maps with Me" You can download maps from anywhere on the globe. I keep the California map on my phone and several others on my Kindle. This allows you to have maps even if you cannot get a GPS signal.

4. A Translation app will come in handy when you must communicate with someone who does not speak your language.

i think adobe echo sign would be of great value you can store all your info in the cloud docs that need to be signed the applications can be limitless. God forbid somthing happens and a DNR auth. is needed or any type of doc. as such it could pulled from the cloud

Alejandro,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Adobe Echo Sign. How do you use it? For others who are interested, here is a link: https://www.echosign.adobe.com/en/home.html.

-Lauren Modeen

Carolyn,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and these very helpful apps. Really helpful for everyone! That's such a great story about the ICE app.

-Lauren Modeen