New emergency response app

A new Android app developed in Australia used with low-cost RFID tags can turn a mobile phone into an easy-to-use personal emergency response device.

iCareTag3A new Android app developed in Australia and accompanying low-cost RFID tags can turn a mobile phone into an easy-to-use personal emergency response device.

In an emergency, a phone running the iCareTag app can be swiped across an RFID iCareTag to trigger an alarm and contact help.

The app assists a user to make an emergency call, send an sms, email and GPS location to emergency contacts, and enable an audible alarm.

iCareTag developer Simon Pickard said the tags were 3M water proof stickers, which cost around $2, and can be placed around the home, car, office or anywhere they might be needed.

iCareTagiCareTag aimed to protect personnel safety if worried about slips, trips, falls or other incapacitating injuries, he said.

Mr Pickard said he and his family created the app after receiving news his grandmother slipped in the shower and was not able to make a distress call quickly or easily.

He said during his work in the engineering sector he often saw people perform high risk work alone and this app was intended for lone workers in addition to older people.

Search for NFC iCareTag in the Google Play Store.

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Tags: apps, emergency-response, iCareTag, news-trn-2, SImon-Pickard,

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