# There's an App for That!



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Just curious what apps you have found that might help someone if they were in an emergency situation?

One of the things we learned here in SD county during the power outage of 2011 was that while phone lines were completely dead, texts and email was still alive! I've got the ferc/nerc report around here somewhere that did a postmortem of the event from RFC to Restoration. It's pretty interesting and details exactly how things happened and what the Lessons Learned were and how they are being applied to prevent another blackout from the same type of cause.

Anyway, back to the App for that, since nearly everyone has a smart phone it seems like a good idea to see what other people are using? And I'm not talking about angry birds 

I like iTriage which helps you identify what is wrong with you or someone else, it's written by a couple of doc's and the little bit I've used it, it's been pretty cool!

I also like ShowNearby AED, for those that don't know an AED is an Automated External Defibrillator. It's about the size of an old school lunch box, and it's generations ahead of the defibrillators in the old movies and TV series.

Automated because turn it on, hook it up and hit the analyze button, and it starts looking for a rhythm it can deliver a shock to while I'm working on CPR and such.
External because they actually have really tiny ones that are implanted like pace makers
Defibrillator because when properly used it delivers a shock to the heart and can help resuscitate a patient who has gone into ventricular fibrillation.

The key to this app, is that in order for a patient to have the highest odds of surviving the AED must be applied within 5 minutes of going into cardiac arrest. If used within that time the chances of survival increase dramatically. The problem is AED's aren't cheap! They are well over $1000 and so not everyone has them. If you have this app, and you watch someone drop into CA, you can send someone to collect an AED from a nearby business or school if its right around the corner and the patient may have a much better chance of surviving! 

Wouldnt it suck to be at the food court and someone goes into CA and a good samaritan starts CPR but doesn't know there's an AED hanging on the wall 50 yards away at the bank in the same parking lot? Wouldn't it be really cool to whip out your iPhone and say "I'll go get the AED!"

Another cool one I like is 5-0 Radio Free It's a like a police scanner, but you can also get air traffic control and all kinds of other services. It's kinda cool, especially if you have something going on like fire storms or just want to listen for S & G!

So what are you guys using?


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## Friknnewguy (Jun 30, 2012)

The app I have that I find most useful is called "Find iPhone". My 7 year old has an iPod , with this app I can locate that iPod wherever she is,using my iphone . The rule at school is no electronics , but we selectively ignore that one . My kid goes to school with her iPod on her , if she ever got abducted by someone I'd know exactly where she is . I check my phone a couple times of day and see that she's at school . May sound a little creepy , but home defense and the security of my family is priority #1.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Friknnewguy said:


> The app I have that I find most useful is called "Find iPhone". My 7 year old has an iPod , with this app I can locate that iPod wherever she is,using my iphone . The rule at school is no electronics , but we selectively ignore that one . My kid goes to school with her iPod on her , if she ever got abducted by someone I'd know exactly where she is . I check my phone a couple times of day and see that she's at school . May sound a little creepy , but home defense and the security of my family is priority #1.


I'm not an application programmer, but I do know a few... you know what would be a really cool addition to that app?

What if it PROACTIVELY alerted you if that signal left a certain box? Say 1 block from the school.

What if it instantly alerted the POLICE if you have a restraining order against someone and now your childs iPhone/iPod/iPad says "hey look at me, I'm not where I'm supposed to be!"

LoJack for kids. obviously there are going to be exceptions, kid is sick, mom picks up the kid instead of you, alert goes off. Well, fine, have mom disable the alert, but what if it's mom that you have the restraining order against? Police should be able to take a valid restraining order and prevent the GPS signal from being deactivated as long as the unit is alive. It's a lot more complicated than that, and I'm not LEO or someone who can write legislation so... for now it's just a "good idea" if you happen to agree with that idea LOL others may be rabidly opposed and may have very sound reasons for being so.

Did you know that in Mexico they actually chip their elected and appointed officials. They figure they have a certain amount of time to recover them alive. If you have seen the remake of the movie Man on Fire with Denzel you might understand the kidnapping for ransom situation that is utter chaos in Central and South America. The movie is fictional, but the premise is anything but, unfortunately.


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## brightstar (Apr 24, 2012)

I love my "prep and pantry" and "wild edibles" apps. Prep and pantry let's me scan barcodes of food I like to keep in my prep, set minimum limits to have, and enter my on hand. It then makes me a list of items I'm running low on. Wild edibles is a guide to just that, wild edibles. Has pictures, descriptions, uses, and if there is a poisonous look a like and how to differentiate between the two.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Cool stuff...now if I can only figure out how to get apps on my iPad. I've only had it a couple weeks.


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## brightstar (Apr 24, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> Cool stuff...now if I can only figure out how to get apps on my iPad. I've only had it a couple weeks.


Hook into wifi, go to app store (should have a widget on your home screen for this), and search either by name or by category. Select the app, choose download, and install. You will have to set up an apple account first but it's that easy


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Dakine said:


> I'm not an application programmer, but I do know a few... you know what would be a really cool addition to that app?
> 
> What if it PROACTIVELY alerted you if that signal left a certain box? Say 1 block from the school.
> 
> ...


there are proactive programs for PC for tracking, have been around for years, I'm sure there are apps for it


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

brightstar said:


> I love my "prep and pantry" and "wild edibles" apps. Prep and pantry let's me scan barcodes of food I like to keep in my prep, set minimum limits to have, and enter my on hand. It then makes me a list of items I'm running low on. Wild edibles is a guide to just that, wild edibles. Has pictures, descriptions, uses, and if there is a poisonous look a like and how to differentiate between the two.


The wild edible app sounds really cool. Can you take a picture of a plant and have the app search the database?


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

yeah I'm definitely going to check out the wild edibles too, thanks for the tip!

Another app I use is called iSnipe I can put in load data for my .338 Lapua Mag and punch in a range, wind, etc and get a firing solution, plus they have thousands of factory rounds already entered in the database. It's pretty cool. Not many people are reaching out to touch someone that far away though... and it's not a free app, I think it's $9 or $10, something like that.


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## brightstar (Apr 24, 2012)

Unfortunately, you can't take a pic with wild edibles and have it analyze it. It does have a ton a filters to help narrow it down such as season, habitat, and which part is edible to narrow down the images it pops up. I found 4 edibles in my yard playing with it I would have never thought of. My mom is an avid backpacker and uses this now on long treks. She has been able to use it many times to help supplement her packed food.


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## valannb22 (Jan 6, 2012)

Friknnewguy said:


> The app I have that I find most useful is called "Find iPhone". My 7 year old has an iPod , with this app I can locate that iPod wherever she is,using my iphone . The rule at school is no electronics , but we selectively ignore that one . My kid goes to school with her iPod on her , if she ever got abducted by someone I'd know exactly where she is . I check my phone a couple times of day and see that she's at school .  May sound a little creepy , but home defense and the security of my family is priority #1.


I have that on my ipod, the only problem is that the app won't locate it unless the Ipod is connected to wifi. It can't get a signal otherwise.


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## Friknnewguy (Jun 30, 2012)

valannb22 said:


> I have that on my ipod, the only problem is that the app won't locate it unless the Ipod is connected to wifi. It can't get a signal otherwise.


Good point. At school she is on the schools


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