OnStar teams with Red Cross for location-based disaster info
With Japan doing the whole earthquake awareness thing, it's not too surprising to see America embracing a more sophisticated method of divulging crisis-related information to those in need. OnStar's new Crisis Assist capabilities will not only provide access to "specially trained crisis advisers" that can contact emergency responders and provide real-time updates to the situation(s) at hand, but subscribers that can actually drive away from the disaster will be routed to the nearest established shelter. Additionally, frantic customers can be connected to friends and family that they have listed as close to their heart on the American Red Cross Safe and Well website, and public safety officials can be notified of a request for help and track down that person's location using OnStar's embedded GPS. Interestingly, there's no word on a timeframe in which we can expect the service to officially go live, but here's to hoping a disaster doesn't strike in order for you to find out.
