emergency
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Wireless Emergency Alerts are about to get more detailed
The FCC has voted to strengthen the Wireless Emergency Alerts system, which sends warnings about missing children, natural disasters and other dangerous events directly to citizens' cell phones. The new rules allow government officials to write up to 360 characters, rather than 90, for 4G LTE and future networks, and it requires participating carriers to support the use of embedded phone numbers and links in all alerts. For example, in an AMBER Alert, the message may now include a link to a photo of the missing child.
Android will now automatically send your location to 999 operators
When you call 999, operators need to know exactly where an emergency is before they can dispatch the required service. That information can be difficult to share if you're in unfamiliar surroundings but a new update coming to Android will take all of the guesswork out of locating where you are. It's called the Emergency Location Service and it uses available WiFi connections, GPS and mobile masts to pinpoint your location and share it with an operator while you're speaking with them.
BMW has the first smart emergency system for motorcycles
While cars and trucks have long had smart emergency systems to send help in the event of a crash (think services like OnStar), motorcycles have had to go without -- a scary thought if you've ever worried about wiping out miles away from help. That's where BMW might just save the day, though. It's introducing the first smart emergency tech for motorbikes, Intelligent Emergency Call, to give the two-wheel crowd a proper safety net. You can trigger it yourself, such as when you need to help a fellow motorist, but the real magic comes with its automatic responses.
DJI will supply drones for European emergency missions
While aerial drones are opening up a whole new world for consumers, organizations are also quietly working out the best way to deploy them in high-impact situations. The UAE's Drones for Good competition, for example, awarded $1 million to the makers of a rescue UAV that can search buildings, but drone maker DJI now wants to help set the rules for how and when they should be deployed. The company has teamed up with European Emergency Number Association (EENA) to create a set of best practices for response teams all over the globe.
Drone pilots sign up in droves to fly during emergencies
You may see a lot of stories about civilian drone operators causing chaos during emergencies, but it's clearer than ever that many of them are willing to help out, too. Bard College has published Federal Aviation Administration commercial drone exemption requests showing that a hefty 19 percent of requests from the last quarter of 2015 mentioned emergency services -- six times as many as reported several months earlier. In theory, that could lead to a lot of private pilots helping officials with search and rescue missions or other critical situations.
Pee-powered socks generate emergency electricity
A team of researchers from University of the West of England in Bristol, UK want you to pee in your socks. You know, in case of an emergency. They've developed a novel power system that leverages your own liquid waste to generate electricity in an emergency. It's essentially the same process as the still suits from Dune, just with electricity instead of water filtration.
Parts of Beijing shut down in first-ever smog 'red alert'
Beijing's smog is legendary, at times blocking out the mid-day sun and enveloping city landmarks, but Monday marked the first time officials have issued an emergency "red alert" concerning the city's air quality. During a red alert, the government recommends schools close up, while outdoor construction halts and half of the city's cars are banned from the streets -- vehicles with odd and even license plates are barred from driving on alternating days.
French police want to ban public WiFi during emergencies
The FBI isn't the only law enforcement agency that wants to restrict privacy for the sake of national security. Following the Paris attacks of November 13th, French police and gendarmes have submitted a wish list of security measures for a new bill, according to a document discovered by LeMonde. Among other things, police want to ban public WiFi during states of emergency, "because of the difficulty of identifying people connected to it," according to LeMonde. French law enforcement also wants the Tor network banned completely and would force companies like Microsoft to hand the encryption keys for apps like Skype to police.
London Fire Brigade adopts Uber model to track and dispatch engines
When a fire breaks out in the heart of London, every second counts for the emergency services. To speed up its response times, the London Fire Brigade has adopted a new mobilising system that tracks the location of its fire engines and any caller dialling from a mobile phone. In the past, vehicles were dispatched based on the closest fire station, rather than their actual proximity to the incident. Now, the people manning the phones can track all of London's 155 fire engines on a screen, allocate the appropriate team and track its progress towards the scene. Such a system also means that the operator can reassure callers by telling them the vehicle's exact position and estimated time of arrival.
The 'world's biggest' 3D printer will build emergency houses
The design team at WASP (World's Advanced Saving Project) will unveil what is being billed as the world's largest 3D printer on Friday in Rieti, Italy. Dubbed the "Big Delta," this enormous device stands roughly 40 feet tall with a 20 foot diameter. But despite its size, the Big Delta is extremely efficient and uses only 100 watts of power. Its oversized design allows the Big Delta to quickly and easily print low-cost disaster-relief housing. What's more, it can do so using locally-sourced materials (read: dirt and mud) which also acts to minimize construction costs. The WASP team also foresees employing this printer for non-disaster-related home building. According to a company release, the Big Delta help accommodate the estimated 4 billion people worldwide that will lack adequate housing by 2030.
Airbnb staff will always call police when you're in an emergency
When you rent a place on Airbnb, you're always taking on some risk. You're trusting a stranger to house you, after all. However, the home-as-hotel company is learning the hard way that it should help out if you're in trouble. Airbnb is responding to the reported sexual assault of a guest in Madrid by "clarifying" its policy on emergencies, according to the New York Times -- staffers will always have to call the police if you tell them that there's a crisis. The Madrid victim's mother was told to call the cops herself, which may have cost valuable time and allowed more trauma.
This origami-inspired emergency bridge accordions into shape
Eat your heart out, GI Joe Bridge Layer. A team from the Graduate School of Engineering in Hiroshima University has developed a temporary and portable bridge design that unfolds itself like an accordion across damaged or missing spans. It's being touted as the "fastest, largest, strongest and lightest" expanding bridge on Earth.
California bill allows firefighters to ground pesky drones
As wildfires scorched sections of California Interstate I-15 last week, firefighters found themselves hamstrung and unable to deliver aerial water coverage for nearly 20 minutes because a couple of schmucks were flying their quadcopters directly overhead. In response, Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) and Senator Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado) have introduced Senate Bill 168. The bill would grant "immunity to any emergency responder who damages an unmanned aircraft in the course of firefighting, air ambulance, or search-and-rescue operations." The bill will also levy stiff fines and potentially even jail time for people whose UAVs inhibit an emergency response.
999 services must embrace texts and apps, says report
While technology has helped the UK's emergency services evolve, people in need are largely required to report incidents by calling 999. It's an adequate solution for the majority of cases, but if someone is the victim of a break-in, picking up the phone just isn't feasible. That's why the the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the world's biggest professional engineering institution, is calling for some modernisation. It argues that in a world where smartphones, messaging apps and social media services are widespread, letting Brits text 999 in a time of need could save more lives by allowing for faster responses.
Samsung will broadcast public safety announcements over LTE this year
Samsung's got strong LTE (and LTE-A, and... whatever's next) bones and now it's looking to shift the commercial tech into the emergency services. Public safety announcements has been a project of the 3GPP for a while. What's that, you say? It's a ragtag gang of superheroes telecoms groups and organizations that hammers out the crucially important (but typically very dry) standards and technical specifications -- these have formed the basis for the likes of 3G and LTE in the past. Samsung's public safety LTE (PS-LTE) is apparently geared for first responders and use during "emergency situations". Importantly the option of a new kind of public safety announcement network will take the drag off existing networks, as well as offer the data heft of LTE network, hopefully ensuring communication remains possible in even the most dire situations.
OnKol captures your loved ones' health data so you don't have to
Distance can sour even the fondest familial relationships, and they're even trickier to sustain when health issues are involved. That's where a small, Midwestern hardware startup called OnKol comes in -- it's making a handsome hub for all the digital health data you can squeeze out of compatible health monitors (a decent chunk of which have cables that terminate in USB jacks). It'll also play nice with health devices that support Bluetooth connections, though those can be a little tougher to come by. The end result? A sort of one-stop shop to help you keep tabs on loved ones who could use some remote (but caring!) eyes.
Impractical ICE BlackBox can film, share emergency situations
ICE BlackBox promises a secure, easy system for delivering audio, video and your location to personalized emergency contacts with the push of a button in any emergency situation. It also features a one-touch "Call 911" button to connect you directly with your local authorities. ICE Blackbox is free for iOS. Some additional background: videos are completely permanent on the device once recorded in an attempt to prevent forced deletion and accidental deletion. Even if not an extreme emergency, send them via text message or email to anyone you need to contact. The app integrates with The Humane Society of the United States and National Neighborhood Watch for reporting animal abuse, too. Your first task to complete in ICE BlackBox is to add some emergency contacts. When you record an emergency video, these people are who the video gets sent out to. Optionally choose multiple numbers for the same contact as well. Another important feature is the Emergency Dial Preferences in the Settings of the app, which lets you customize the one-touch emergency call. It's set to 911 by default, but if you're in a different country or prefer to use a different phone number entirely you have the ability to change it to whatever you want. Unfortunately, I ran into several issues using ICE BlackBox. For one, the videos I attempted to record did not save at all to the app. The Record button is large and green in the center of the camera view, but after tapping "Stop," nothing happened. The placement of the Record button, by the way, isn't the best design decision since it blocks a decent portion of what your camera is filming. If the videos aren't saving, the app is basically rendered useless. This could just be a problem with the current version of the app. Previous versions have pretty good ratings in the App Store, which I suspect wouldn't be the case if ICE BlackBox wasn't functioning as advertised. Still, after numerous attempts at recording something, my Incidents list kept displaying "No videos. Pull down to refresh." The app is a nifty concept but in its current state, it doesn't work properly. With the videos not saving, I'm unable to send any footage to any of my emergency contacts or anyone at all. Reporting animal abuse doesn't work either. However, in a real world situation I'm not sure that I would find the app very useful anyway. If you're in a dangerous situation, I'm not sure that the threatening individual would scatter if you told them you were using the app. Instead of deleting the video, they could have you delete the app, or worse give them your phone. If you wanted to film something important but not life-threatening, it's just as easy to use the standard Camera app and send it to anyone you want. I appreciate the intent behind ICE BlackBox, but at the end of the day it doesn't seem very practical for emergency situations. It's available for iPhone and iPad free in the App Store.
Analog wrist watch can call emergency numbers even without a phone
There are some smartwatches out there like Will.i.am's Puls that can make voice calls without having to connect to a phone. But have you ever heard of an analog watch with the same capability? No? Well, now you will: the GPS-equipped Limmex emergency watch looks like a perfectly old-fashioned Swiss timepiece, except it has an emergency button you can press that calls preprogrammed contacts. You don't even need to wear an earpiece to use it, as it comes with built-in mic and loudspeaker. In case you've saved more than one number to call during emergency, the device rings 'em all up in sequence until someone picks up. Also, the watch automatically sends your contacts a text message with a link to a map that shows them where you are. The device is currently available in a handful of European countries with prices ranging from €449 to €749 (roughly $570 to $950), though it sounds like the company plans to release it in other locations in the future.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite "Oh %$#@" button?
I'm not the best under pressure in video game sometimes. When something really bad starts happening that I'm not prepared for, what I need the most -- and am always denied -- is the time to think it through. Whoops, I accidentally aggroed 25 hellbugs in RIFT when I only meant to grab three, and there's no place to run. What do I do? Well, my friends, that's why devs give you the informally named "Oh %$#@" buttons. When the crap hits the fan and you need a little bit of breathing room to figure out how you're going to survive, these skills help by making you invulnerable, upping your dodge chance to 75%, completely refilling your health bar, or knocking all enemies away into the next time zone. So what's your favorite "Oh %$#@" button? And how often does it get used? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Hail nearby medics with the GoodSAM smartphone app
In a serious medical emergency, action in the first few minutes can be key to a positive outcome. An ambulance might be only a few miles away, but what if someone with medical training, who could provide immediate care while the cavalry's on route, was sitting just next door? It's this kind of scenario a doctor with London's Air Ambulance service had in mind when he created GoodSAM, an Android and iOS app that sends out a request for any nearby professionals to lend a hand in an emergency.
