3 min read
A Pakistani developer has developed an app that lets anyone send out emergency alerts to a number of pre-set people/emergency services in just a few taps.
The recent rise of smartphone has solved a lot of our worries and given us some incredible solutions, like location-based reminders, check-lists, artificial intelligence-based assistants, etc. But what if you are in emergency and you need to inform your parents, or call the nearest ambulance? Calling them or texting them is an option, but that’s some incredibly valuable time that is being wasted, especially if you are in an emergency. So what if you can have one app, that can do all this for you in an instant? Mohafiz is an app that does just that!
Developed by Fahad Mehmood Khan, Mehfooz (guardian when translated to English) is an emergency-broadcast application. At setup, you feed in all your information such as your name, age, gender, blood group and email address at the time of setup, or even enter some info if you have a special medical condition (High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Cancer, etc). After that, you enter 5 ICE (In Case of Emergency) contacts: family members, neighbours, friends, colleagues, etc.
Now if you face a critical situation, all you need to do is open the app by tapping on its widget and it will present you with two buttons. A red button captioned “General Alert” that signifies that you are in need of immediate help and don’t have time to specify the nature. When pressed, it instantly sends out an SMS to your ICEs with your location and a general distress message. The app can also broadcast this message to your Facebook/Twitter profiles if your mobile internet is active. The other option, the orange button captioned “Specific Alert”, allows you to specify the nature of emergency so your immediate contacts are more aware and come prepared. In case you don’t have time to open the app, there is also a third option to simply double-click the home button and activate this feature.
In an interview to News One, Khan says that since Pakistan’s security infrastructure isn’t developed enough to serve all the people, so we, the people, need to take some steps ourselves to help each other. There are also some extra features that make this app a complete security package,
- A news feed about security related news in a user’s respective area.
- Contact numbers of Emergency Services inside the app’s phonebook.
- Blood Donation or finding a specific kind of blood through the app’s portal.
Considering Pakistan’s unstable security condition, Mohafiz is the perfect app to have by your side. Since the app is free, there is no harm in downloading it and giving it a try.
