New emergency response app to be launched this academic year

A new emergency response mobile application that would enable students in dangerous situations to call the Department of Public Safety simply by swiping right will be available during the 2015-16 academic year, Environmental Health and Safety director Robin Izzo announced at the Council of the Princeton University Community meeting on Oct. 12.

Both Izzo and DPS deferred comment to DPS Infrastructure Operations Manager Taylor Keller.

Keller explained that the app will allow a student to send a distress signal to DPS by simply swiping right on the app's screen. Once swiped, the caller’s device location will be visible to DPS, and the caller, if possible, can speak with a communications officer. She noted that the signal can also be easily aborted by swiping left within four seconds of activating the response.

“Public Safety will treat these notifications the same as a voice emergency call,” Keller said. "Resources will be immediately dispatched to the location of the device that is reporting an emergency situation."

Keller explained that the app was geared toward certain situations in which making a voice call is not the best course of action.

“The best course of action in an emergency is always to place a voice call to Public Safety or 911,” Keller explained. “This app provides the ability to report an emergency situation and request urgent help when making a voice call is not the best course of action under the circumstances. In the event that an individual cannot place a voice call, it opens the phone line and sends location information to DPS so that DPS can send assistance.”

According to Keller, the University evaluated the app throughout last spring semester and is planning to launch it within the 2015-16 school year.

Keller explained the time seemed right to unveil this new student tool.

“Considering that nearly all of our community have and use mobile devices, it was appropriate to look at opportunities to provide a tool that can be used to report emergencies, especially in those cases where making a voice phone call to request help is not always a good option,” she said.

This app comes from the company NowForce, an Israel-based company that offers emergency response solutions for campuses across the world, Keller said. The organization focuses on creating easy and accessible methods to help those who may find themselves in dangerous situations, according to its website.

NowForce did not respond to a request for comment.

Brooke Phillips ’19 said that she views the app as feasible.

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“If you’re in a precarious situation or maybe you don’t feel safe calling PSafe, it’s a good thing to have the app,” she said.

Alexander Xu ’19 and Ben Laufer ’19 both said they saw the app would be useful in certain situations that presented the need. Xu said that it might be useful to have the app on his phone if he was in a situation where talking was out of the question.

Laufer also said he saw the app as helpful for other students who may see the need to use it.

“I don’t think it’s likely that I’ll be in a situation where I’ll need to use it,” he said. "That being said, it might come in handy for a small number of students"