Those who love the outdoors and adventure know how important it is to be prepared for anything. That means having ample food, water, some medicine and the skills to seek shelter and make fire in case things go awry. Yet, sometimes, no matter how ready you think you are, you may find yourself in a situation where you need help.
So, thrill seekers should add one more precautionary measure to their list of things to do before they go on their hike or journey off into the unknown when traveling: download this safety app.
ICE Contact will truly have your back in case of an emergency. It does so by allowing you to send either an instant message or delayed message to alert your family that you are in danger or need help.
The messages will be sent via text, email or in-app notification, even if your phone dies and even if there is no service. Contacts do not need the app in order to receive the messages.
The app can be used in just about any kind of situation where you will want to alert family members or friends that you are in danger and need help, such as when going for a solo hike, a late night run or even a blind date.
Once you download ICE Contact, allow the app to access your contacts and then select five people you want saved as the people to notify in case of emergency.
If the user wants to inform their contacts they are in immediate trouble, they can create and send an instant message. To do so, tap on the red button that reads, "send instant message," or access this through the menu by tapping on the ICE logo on the top left corner.
A message will be sent that informs the recipients that they are your ICE contact, and you are in an emergency situation. It then informs them they should contact you right away or send help to the location that is provided below, which includes a map with your current location. Make sure you enable GPS tracking for this feature to work. Users can also edit this pre-composed message to give more details to better suit their needs.
A delayed message works a little differently. The user starts by first choosing which contacts they want to send it to. Then, they fill in the subject and message. This allows users to inform their family or friends that they are about to go out on the lake, on that Tinder date, etc. and that they should get help if they don't hear back from you by a certain time. This allows the user to feel safer when hiding out in the woods to avoid being attacked by that bear lurking around or when heading to a new part of town with someone they just met for the first time.
Like before, just make sure your GPS is on, so that ICE Contact can track you throughout your entire journey so that your contact will get an updated point of location if and when they get the message. All that's left to do is select the time you want to send the message.
This app will provide that extra level of comfort when embarking on adventures by yourself. The user can rest assured that, in case they are in trouble, help will be on the way — regardless the status of phone service.
The app is very easy to use and navigate and doesn't include unnecessary bells and whistles. Focusing solely on its main messaging features, ICE Contact appears to be accurate and reliable, making it an app that could possibly save your life.
ICE Contact is available to download for free for iOS and Android.
Source: Tech Crunch
