Apps that track your location, alert you to potential coronavirus exposure and more are the latest in a growing industry of life-saving mobile applications. A marriage of smartphones, public information and private ingenuity is fueling the growth of this industry.
Pulse Point is a new app that lets people store medical information in case of an emergency. It also allows them to pinpoint nearby defibrillators.
1. American Red Cross First Aid App
The American Red Cross First Aid App puts expert advice for everyday emergencies in the palm of your hand. Its videos, interactive quizzes and simple step-by-step advice makes learning easy and engaging.
Users can learn how to respond to and treat various injuries or illnesses such as allergic reactions, burns, cuts, head trauma, poisoning and more. They can also find information on preparing for natural disasters such as hurricanes or tornadoes.
Another useful feature of the app is its ability to provide full weather alerts and to easily locate open Red Cross shelters. The app allows you to customize 40 different weather alerts and override your phone’s ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode for critical alerts. The app also provides you with a Spanish toggle for easy access to life-saving information in your preferred language. The bespoke app also makes it easy to donate blood or platelets.
2. ICEBlueButton
ICEBlueButton is the mobile embodiment of the Blue Button movement that gives Americans easy access to their own online medical records. The free app lets you create a record of emergency information including doctor’s name, insurance info, allergies, medications and more.
The ICEBlueButton app generates a QR code for the user’s smartphone that can be scanned by medical professionals in an emergency. It can also be printed on a sticker and stuck to things like children’s bike helmets or car seats. The app is free to use and offers a $20 per year option for auto-alerts to emergency contacts.
The app recently won the Parent Tested, Parent Approved Seal (PTPA), which is awarded to products that meet rigorous, independent testing and consumer experience criteria. It is available on iTunes and Google Play. The company behind the app, Del Mar-based Humetrix, has other apps for medical emergencies and disaster preparedness.
3. PulsePoint
PulsePoint empowers citizens to act in time-sensitive calls for help and builds a robust community of engaged citizen responders. The free mobile app alerts CPR-trained individuals when there is a nearby cardiac event that may need their assistance and directs them to the nearest automated external defibrillator (AED).
Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a life-threatening emergency where early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, can double or triple a victim's chance of survival until paramedics arrive.
In cities where the app is formally adopted, the public safety dispatch center integrates the app into its 9-1-1 Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. When a 911 call is made reporting a sudden cardiac arrest, the CAD system sends a notification to app users within a six-block radius that they need to provide CPR and provides the location of the closest approved AED for rescuers to use.
4. EMNet findER
In addition to providing a phone’s GPS capabilities, this app helps users find the nearest emergency room (ER). It uses EMNet’s proprietary ER database, which is widely recognized as one of the nation’s most complete and accurate.
Finding a nearby ER can be difficult, particularly when you’re in an unfamiliar area or on vacation. The free EMNet findER app, developed by Massachusetts General Hospital, lets users quickly locate the closest hospital whether they’re sick or visiting friends or family with a medical issue.
The app also stores information that emergency responders can use, including a patient’s doctor name, emergency contacts, medical conditions and medications. A pediatric version, funded by the R Baby Foundation, includes pediatric information for an additional 99-cent annual fee. This information is accessible by emergency responders via a barcode on the lock screen of the user’s phone.
5. Twiage
Twiage allows EMS providers to notify hospitals of incoming patients, sending vital signs, symptoms, demographics and even photos and videos. It also enables them to communicate with hospital-based staff in real time, eliminating the need for phone or radio calls that can tie up ED-based personnel.
The app helps reduce inaccurate ETAs and gives doctors a more complete picture of a patient’s situation. It can also help ERs prepare for the arrival of a patient, such as preparing cath labs, operating rooms and Stroke Teams before they arrive.
Brewster Ambulance recently began using the technology with a number of private EMS companies and municipal fire departments in the region that transport patients to its three southeastern Massachusetts hospitals, including Morton Hospital in Taunton and Saint Anne’s Hospital in Middleboro. Steward Health Care hospitals in Northside and Trumbull counties in Ohio have also begun using the software.
6. ICEBlueButton
Blue Button is the federal program that provides patients with easy, electronic access to their health information. It allows you to securely download claims and personal health information from your doctors, hospitals or health plans to use with applications such as Microsoft HealthVault and Dossia to better manage your data.
Currently, veterans, members of the military and Medicare beneficiaries have Blue Button access. The program is expanding to allow patients from all health care settings to access their data.
However, only 21% of current users have used it to download and share with their non-VA providers. We conducted focus group testing and other market research to learn more about why non-use is happening and how we can increase usage. Usability was identified as the main factor limiting adoption. The findings will inform ONC’s development of consumer public service announcement videos and other assets that encourage Blue Button use.
8. Life360
Life360 is a popular location-sharing app that helps families manage their safety. The app allows parents to track their family's locations and driving behavior in one unified platform.
Parents can also use the app to mark places (like home, work, and school) and receive notifications when their family members enter or leave those areas. Additionally, they can check their family's peak speed to promote safe driving.
However, some parents take this app too seriously and over-control their children. This can lead to teen anxiety and create an unhealthy distance in the parent-child relationship.
To protect against over-controlling parents, Life360 allows users to pause the app's location tracking. In addition, the app has a battery-saving mode that shuts down most of its functionality at low battery levels. This feature is available on Android and iOS.
9. CPR App
A smartphone can become a handy tool during medical emergencies. Some apps allow users to store their medical history, including doctor contact information and emergency contacts. Others, such as ICEBlueButton, help people track and share important personal information with emergency responders.
CPR apps help people learn and practice the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including how to use four commonly available Automated External Defibrillators. They also provide instructions for assisting choking victims and follow the latest guidelines set forth by leading resuscitation organizations.
One app, Heartrunner, connects people who are CPR trained with local volunteers willing to help in a cardiac arrest crisis. The volunteer will walk the person in need to a nearby automated external defibrillator (AED) and give them simple instruction on how to use it. The volunteer can also help the victim through other basic first aid measures.
10. Pet Tracker
Like a GPS wearable for humans, pet trackers monitor the location of pets and can send alerts to owners if they wander too far from safe areas set up by their pet owners. Some offer more data about fitness and activity levels, which can help identify health concerns, such as if a pet isn't getting enough exercise or has been spending too much time in the hot sun (the same goes for elderly pets).
Whistle 3's app shows owners where their pet is at any given moment, as well as providing a history of past locations. It also offers features such as a light and sound that can be activated from the app to help find pets in the dark or in thick woods. Tractive can provide similar information but with added insights into daily activity and sleep patterns, which may help owners determine if a pet needs a lifestyle change.
