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How to share your medical and health data with emergency responders when you dial 911 on your Android phone
When an emergency happens, your phone can help expedite life-saving information
When an emergency happens, you need help as quickly as possible to ensure your safety. It isn't always possible to be coherent during an emergency call, but Android phones and iPhones have settings that make it easy to get the help you need quickly.
How to add medical information to your Android phone
Your phone can help save your life in an emergency
Not a day goes by that we don't use our smartphones. For many of us, it never leaves our side. It either sits snuggly in a pocket or is gripped tightly so that we don't drop it and crack the screen. We even keep phone chargers around the house and in our cars, so we never face a dead battery. One thing we don't give much thought to is how helpful our Android phones can be in the case of an emergency. From remembering emergency contacts to collecting medical information, your phone's medical emergency services can be a blessing that you hope you'll never need but are there when you do.
Your phone will sound an alarm on Wednesday, but there’s no need to panic
The test will roll out in the US as a part of the Emergency Alert System
Nationwide warning systems were established to help spread the word about emergencies to as many people as possible when necessary. The goal is to make sure that information gets to the right people to address the emergency as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, this system occasionally needs to be tested to ensure that, when the time comes, everything is in working order. For this reason, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) plans on holding a nationwide test tomorrow.
How your phone can help you prepare for emergency weather
Your phone can help keep you safe in an emergency
We've made a lot of progress in science and technology, but we're far from stopping or changing the course of natural calamities like hurricanes, forest fires, tornadoes, and flash floods. What we can do is anticipate them and mitigate their impact. Your phone is a handy tool that you can use to prepare for emergency weather events. Here are some tips on how you can use your phone to prepare for inclement weather.
Google Pixels are getting a new Fast Emergency Dialer for local police, fire, and medical services
It may not work everywhere, but you have the old emergency dialer to fall back on
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Google includes a lot of safety features with its Pixel phones. Services like car crash detection, assisted emergency calls, and spontaneous video recording are all part of its Personal Safety app and have proven to help in times of distress. Google’s now adding another experience to the app, called the Fast Emergency Dialer.
Google is making sure future Android phones offer users these safety and emergency options
Required options for GMS access
Google Mobile Services — or GMS — is such an essential suite of apps for Android users, devices without it often have a hard time finding an audience. With Chrome, YouTube, Maps, and more all bundled together, some of today's most vital apps are all included in one single package. To qualify for GMS, manufacturers have to meet a set of standard requirements. A new rule for Android 12 puts a focus on the "Safety & emergency" settings page on your phone, ensuring every Android user has a baseline level of protection against allergic reactions, earthquakes, and more.
Android is making it easier than ever to make a crucial emergency call
An updated emergency call screen brings quick shortcuts
Calling emergency numbers should be as simple as possible. In many countries, though, you have to remember several numbers, and most people end up forgetting them until they really need them. Android is now removing the guessing game out of this potentially life-or-death situation by making sure you can always reach the emergency service you need.
One of the major limitations of Google Voice since its inception is that you can't call 911 or other emergency service numbers. Most VoIP services share this problem, since it's usually impossible for responders to obtain your exact location. Google is working on addressing this, but not for regular users.
The location-finding capabilities of US emergency services are woefully inadequate, this much is known. What makes it all the more tragically ironic is that the very devices most often used to call 911 — smartphones — contain exceedingly accurate location data. How hard could it be to use that data for such an important purpose? Hard enough that it took Google until just now to expand its faster, more accurate Emergency Location Service (ELS) to the US. But, hey, at least it's finally here, and Google reports that it's already saving lives.