Tag: EMERGENCY

Chicago has broken new ground by becoming the first city in the U.S. to accept photo and video messages at its 911 center. Cell-wielding citizens can now send images and video captured with their mobile devices to the dispatch, which feeds that information to the crime prevention center. If the images are deemed relevant and sufficiently useful, they are then forwarded to first responders and ...

Google has launched a 'Person Finder' app, like the ones for Haiti and Chile, whereby users can submit and find information on any friends or family in Christchurch, New Zealand, which was struck by a devastating earthquake earlier today. At the moment, Google has information on about 5,100 people, so, if you're looking for loved ones, or have information that could put others' minds at ease, ...

Vodafone has revealed that the Egyptian regime forced it to send pro-government text messages as protests recently escalated within the country. According to the provider, Egyptian authorities disseminated their propaganda thanks to a law that allows the state to send out messages across cellular networks during times of emergency. Calling Egypt's actions "unacceptable," Vodafone confirmed that it ...

For the first time in nearly a decade, the 911 emergency service is getting an overhaul, as the FCC looks to expand and update its crime reporting capabilities. As Wired reports, users in need of urgent assistance may soon be able to immediately contact 911 via text message or video streamed directly from their mobiles. The proposed system upgrade would be the first since 2001, when the FCC ...

Two years ago, FEMA and the FCC began working toward an emergency alert system for cell phones. Such services already exist in various municipalities and foreign nations, and now the FCC, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security have finally initiated the implementation of the U.S.'s own national system. The FCC recently commissioned Alcatel-Lucent to create a Commercial Mobile Alert System ...

In anticipation of an Emergency Social Data Summit later this week in Washington, D.C., the Red Cross has released the findings of a survey (PDF link) it conducted on social networking use during a disaster. From the 1,058 self-selected respondents, some interesting figures emerged. Try to follow along as we plow through the data. Of the respondents, 72-percent use social media sites of some ...

Last Tuesday, Leigh Fazzina was racing her bike through the woods in Connecticut when she suddenly drifted away from the rest of the cyclists competing in the mini-triathlon. As she was furiously riding downhill toward the main bike trail, her front wheel ran into some gnarly tree roots, and she crashed in a grand fashion. The 36-year old from Philly wasn't familiar with the Connecticut ...

Share The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never progress from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over them, nevertheless. We've ...

A hemisphere still reeling from the tragedy in Haiti was struck again this weekend by an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile. With the death toll now tallied at over 700, and over a million Chileans displaced or homeless, President Michelle Bachelet has called the quake "an emergency unparalleled in the history of Chile." While the infrastructure of the South American country is stronger than ...

With disease and untreated wounds being the largest threats to victims of the recent Haitian earthquake, doctors are struggling to provide adequate health care in the disaster zone. Clean water is scarce, electricity is unreliable, and the environment isn't sterile. But the aid group Doctors Without Borders has found a temporary solution to these problems. According to Boing Boing, the group ...

Usually, the most we can expect an iPhone app to do is add a few drops of entertainment or convenience to our everyday lives. Few of us, though, could ever imagine the iPhone actually saving our lives -- the way it did for one lucky American. On January 12th, shortly after returning to his Port-au-Prince hotel, filmmaker Dan Woolley found himself hopelessly trapped under a pile of rubble when ...

The Internet turned the big 4-0 this year, and the commercially available wireless phone celebrated its own quarter-century milestone. After all of that time, it seems that state and national governments are finally ready to accept the crazy notion that both modes of communication can be used to instantly disseminate urgent information during times of strife. Japan introduced a cell phone ...

If South Korean firefighters can't take the heat, they might send in a new mini robot instead. According to CNET News, about 100 remote-controlled robots will be sent to Korean fire stations for testing in the coming months. The Firefighters Assistant Robot, which weighs about three pounds and almost fits in your hand, can scout burning buildings when conditions may be too dangerous for humans. ...

If you were trapped or lost in a storm drain, but still had cell phone reception, how would you reach out for help? Perhaps call 911, or its equivalent? We're sure you wouldn't rely on updating your Facebook status. But that's exactly what a pair of girls in Adelaide, Australia did when they wandered into just such a drain Sunday. The 10- and 12-year-old girls used their cell phones to update ...

People are constantly incriminating themselves with poorly timed or damaging text messages, but one Iowa county is finally allowing people to get themselves out of trouble with their texting thumbs. According to the AP, the emergency call center located in the county jail in Waterloo, Iowa is the first in the nation to accept texts directed to 911. The responders can even reply to the emergency ...