keeping safe

The Christmas party season is upon us! We all want to have a good time; but we need to make sure that we’re safe to (and I don’t just mean condoms). Tom Hunt and his team have developed an App to help you out, appropriately named iSurvive. iSurvive has two modes: Attack and Accident. It allows you to send a pre-written emergency text to up to three of your contacts in three quick taps, to let them know you’ve been attacked or had an accident with your GPS location and a Google Maps link. iSurvive also has a one touch ‘call international Emergency Services’ (112) button, a quick and easy way to find your current location, the ability to turn a flashlight on, use the Flash as an SOS flashing signal and even convert text into a flashing custom Morse Coded signal.

If you move after sending the text, when your contacts click the link they get a real time update of your current location. These updates continue, until you deactivate the app at the end of the emergency situation.

The App was inspired by an event that happened two years ago in the UK, in which someone was reported missing. The Police eventually used the missing person’s mobile phone signal to track them down but it was too late. The victim had been abducted, murdered and left in a remote forest location.

If you’re being attacked and the attacker is trying to get you to cancel the alert in the App you can enter a fake code and it will appear to them that you’ve cancelled it. But in reality it will continue to transmit your location to your three contacts. How realistic it is that the attacker would try and force you to deactivate the alert, rather than smash up your mobile is questionable.

There are a lot of great customizable options on this App including: the pre-written messages, who they are sent to, the ability to type a detailed message to your chosen contacts and the deactivation texts.

If you or someone else kills the App the alert continues to be active, until you fully deactivate it yourself. iSurvive is FREE to download from 14th-28th December 2013, after this is reasonably priced at 99p.

Of course an App alone isn’t going to completely safe. You need to take some sensible steps yourself, such as: knowing your alcohol tolerance limit, staying with friends, not going home/off on your own, carrying emergency money, keep hold of your drink and in the event of an attack attracting as much attention as you can.

Have a great & safe Christmas.

Published by: The Gay UK on Friday 20th December 2013.