Top 6 Safety and Emergency Apps

It’s unbelievable the kinds of trouble kids can get into. Whether it’s swallowing a poisonous substance, or jumping out of a tall tree, they are always keeping us on our toes. Having three children ages three and younger certainly keeps me on my toys and, thankfully, we averted crises more often than we’ve landed in them.

When you’re busy and chasing after you kiddos, why not keep safety and emergency information in your pocket at all times with some great resources from the app store? There are other very useful options, but I’ve taken some time to list out six of my favorites – I hope you too will find them useful.

Pediatric SymptomMD by Self Care Decisions LLC (iPhone, $2.99) is a wonderful resource for the caring parent. If you’re like me, you worry about every symptom you children succumb to. This app travels with you everywhere you go and makes symptom-checking fast and easy. Find out if your child’s condition warrants the ER or if it can wait for a day or two before you can book a doctor’s appointment.

iTriage by Healthagen LLC (iPhone, Free) was created by two ER doctors and answers questions ranging from waiting room times at nearby hospitals, to symptom guides and so much more. This is a wonderful free resource for parents who need help deciding if that fever warrants an ER trip and which hospital currently has a shorter ER waiting time. This app is free, so there’s no reason not to add this invaluable resource to your phone.

pMonitor by MobileAppTek (Android, $1.99) boasts three wonderful features that prove invaluable to families. The app provides location notifications and alerts. Worried about your kids reaching school safely? Set the app to notify you when their gps location reaches the school’s address. The app also comes equipped with a panic alert system – if you feel like you’re in danger or a very uncomfortable situation, simply hit the panic button and the app notifies your preset contacts that you’re in trouble and provides then with your location. pMonitor also comes with a unique “fall” monitor which uses the sensor in your Android phone to alert loved ones if you’ve physically fallen to the ground (a wonderful app for the elderly to take advantage of). pMonitor does it all and is well worth every penny.

Poison Center Help by American Association of Poison Control Centers (iPhone, Free) is a must-have for parents of young children. Why, just the other day, my 9-month-old somehow got a hold of a nasty substance and it freaked me out! I scrambled to find the Poison Control Center number and wondered why I didn’t already have it handy or memorized. Thankfully it all turned out well (thanks to the wonderful medical professional on the line). This app is free and makes it quick and easy to call their 1 800 number. Download this great resource and keep it handy. Kids eat the strangest things when we’re not looking!

Sex Offender Search by Life360 (iPhone, Free) is a perfect option for Halloween. If you’re paranoid like me and hate just knocking on doors for fear of introducing your children to strangers, make sure you download this one before trick-or-treating. The app allows you to search by location and find out just who in your neighborhood has been convicted of sex crimes and avoid knocking on their doors. This is perfect for any time of year, but especially handy when taking the kids out for Halloween fun.

iMapWeather Radio by Weather Decision Technologies (iPhone, $9.99) is a wonderful way to get automatic weather alerts any time of the day or night. If it’s 2 am, it’s unlikely you’ll be awake watching tv to be alerted if there’s a tornado on the way, but iMapWeather will sound an alert and give you all the details to let you know. I never took much of an interest in the weather until I had kids – now I want to know about any weather affecting road conditions or our safety. This is a must-have for parents especially with winter weather approaching very soon!

Soon Apple will be launching it’s own Find My Friends app that will allow users to track family and friends with iPhones. This will be a godsend for those of us who like to occasionally check up on family members to make sure they made it to school safely or other destinations. The app will come complete with the ability to set cut-off times (so your location can’t be viewed when you don’t want it to be). The app will also include parental restriction and privacy controls and will be a part of Apple’s iCloud service. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to its release in just a few days!

Did I miss your favorite safety or emergency app? I’d love to hear your current favorites in the comments below!

Hannah is an educator, mom to three wonderful children ages 3 and younger and proud wife of an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran. She is the founder of MyAppinions.com and the HR and Editorial Manager at AppTudes.com. My Appinions is a site where she posts reviews of iOS apps of all kinds but with a heavy emphasis on ones with educational and practical value.

Author: hannah