A NEW phone app has been launched that will help emergency service crews find a person no matter where they are anywhere across the country.
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According to the State Emergency Services about 66 percent of all incoming calls to Triple Zero line were made from mobile phones.
South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner Linda Williams said the Emergency app was a welcome addition to the emergency service resource toolkit.
"This Emergency+ app, developed by a national working group to provide exact location information and quick access to all emergency and non- emergency contacts, is a sound, user friendly app that will help us help you," she said.
"We had concerns earlier in the year in regard to untested smartphone apps not endorsed by Government or emergency services.
"These claimed to send location details to emergency responders, but couldn't be guaranteed to perform.
"This App overcomes all of those issues."
The Emergency app promises to be a a useful tool for all South Australian rescue agencies by helping locate people even if they can not identify their location and by cutting down on response times.
Metropolitan Fire Service Community Safety and Resilience commander Greg Howard said the public could trust the Emergency+ app, as it had been designed by Australian emergency services personnel.
"The Emergency+ app is the only Triple Zero (000) smart phone app that we endorse, because it's been created and tested by emergency service representatives from the national Triple Zero Awareness Work Group (TZAWG)," he said.
"The Emergency+ app requires the public to phone Triple Zero (000) to report a life threatening emergency needing police, fire or ambulance response.
"During the phone call, the caller can access and verbally convey their GPS coordinates if they're unsure of their exact location."
SA Ambulance Service executive director of operations Steve Cameron said the app would assist ambulance personnel to find patients during medical emergencies.
"This app has the potential to save lives because in a medical emergency every second counts," he said.
The Emergency App can be downloaded free to smarthphones, Android and iOS devices and will help emergency and non-emergency situations by helping to establish a person's exact location quickly.
Developed by the national Triple Zero Awareness Work Group , the app allows people to call Triple Zero and then identifies their location using GPS tracking.
If the caller is unsure of their exact location, they are asked if they have the App on their smart phone and if they can then read out their exact latitude and longitude GPS coordinates from the App.
The Emergency App will also help people pick the right emergency number to call for help in emergency and non-emergency situations and includes information on other national numbers such as Crime Stoppers.
If you'd like to access or upload the app, please see the links below:
VIDEO on Youtube: http://youtu.be/hThHoRNhEnQ
How to use the Emergency+ App
1. The caller opens the Emergency + app.
2. They tap Triple Zero to make their call.
3. The call taker asks them to the press the Emergency+ icon. This will take them back to their map coordinates and they can read you out their lat/long information.
Note: There may be subtle differences between using the Emergency+ app on varying phones.
