New App for Emergency Preparedness

New Smartphone App Reduces Emergency Response Time




San Jose, CA--Peacekeeper, a community-based emergency response Smartphone app, cuts emergency response times by relying on nearby neighbors. When a user is in an emergency, the app notifies neighbors, friends and family and gives them the chance to be first responders. The system enables individuals to easily send, receive, and respond to emergency alerts. The design of the app gives users the ability to get the help they need when seconds count the most.
In an emergency, response time is critical. By relying on neighbors across the street rather than police across town, Peacekeeper can dramatically reduce the wait time for help to arrive.

The four types of Peacekeeper alerts are Medical, Fire, Intruder and Abduction. Alerts contain detailed information about the emergency so that the recipients know where to find the person and what to expect when they arrive. Responders and victims can communicate in real-time via the built-in chat feature.

“The Peacekeeper app is designed to change how people think and feel about emergency response by building tools, relationships and training that empower individuals to take action within their own communities,” says Cody Drummond, the app’s founder. “This has the potential to dramatically reduce assault, improve security and improve safety in neighborhoods around the world.”

For medical emergencies, responders can provide users with the support they need during a crisis or serve as an intermediary until professional help arrives. For instance, if a child falls unconscious, a family member can quickly send a medical alert to the people in their private emergency response group. Neighbors who know CPR or have medical training arrive within seconds and save a life.

“We hope an emergency never happens, but if it does, Peacekeeper alerts the important people who are motivated and ready to respond with one touch of a button,” explains Drummond.

Peacekeeper users have two layers of protection: their Emergency Response Group (ERG) and their Alliance. ERG’s consist of the neighbors that you choose to be in your network. Alliances are designated family and friends who may be geographically further away, yet, are likely to act quickly in an emergency.

Thanks to a successful beta test period, the app now has users in all 50 United States and over 20 foreign countries.

The Peacekeeper app is built to call responders to your home. As the network grows and users begin to establish trusted reputations, Peacekeeper plans to implement features that allow users to send alerts from any location for emergency response wherever they go.

The app is available in Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play for Free!

Peacekeeper is dedicated to building and implementing systems and tools that will bring peace and security to neighborhoods around the world. Visit them on the web at Peacekeeper.org.



For Immediate Release
October 30, 2014
Contact: Julian Adorney Julian@Peacekeeper.org 720-425-6521

That's awesome! I was a disaster relief worker for three years, and while I focused on the relief and redevelopment phase as opposed to the 'rescue' phase, many of my friends worked for the rescue operations and could have used a crowdsourced way to find out where they were needed. It seems brilliant, I hope that it catches on!

I wonder if someone could design something that would help with resource allocation from donors to recipients during the relief phase? We found the best way to handle it analog was to create regional networking centers, physical locations, that helped coordinate the incoming workers and supplies. It wasn't a perfect system, but just having a location where people congregated because it had bathrooms and wifi was a huge help, and the collaboration that arose from it saved alot of duplicated efforts.

Maybe an app could help those kinds of projects get implemented with templates or something?

Nick: Glad you like the idea! Especially given your experience, I'd love to hear what you think actually using the app.

That's a great idea! It's not something Peacekeeper's working on at the moment, but there are probably apps out there that could help.