Going Abroad? Take Distress Signal with you!

For many of us going abroad, whether on holiday or on a business trip, means struggling with a foreign language. For everyday things like beer and food pointing and smiling help us to get by most of the time, but what if you had a medical emergency?

That’s where Distress Signal can help. It’s a genius app that lets you contact the emergency services directly in their local language. It uses GPS to know your location and then sends an SMS to the service you need.

It’s the brainchild of David Nurse, MD of Mesh Trading Ltd, the company behind Distress Signal. He had the idea when he was on holiday in Venice and was taken ill. As it happened his travelling companion was able to help out, but it could have been serious.

“If I was on my own things might not have turned out so well,” David explained. “It was then I had the idea for Distress Signal as I realised that alerting the emergency services could be as quick and easy as sending a text message.”

Distress Signal works in every country, although the SMS function currently only works in the UK, Ireland, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Philippines, and Iceland. Although David says more and more European countries will be available soon, as will the US. If it’s available in Spain by February then I’ll definitely be getting it for the trip out to Mobile World Congress.

If the SMS function doesn’t work then the app provides the number for the local emergency services, as well details of the nearest hospitals and police stations. It also contains first aid advice from British Red Cross, can act as a torch and siren and can send a location text to friends and family if needed.

It’s already available in the Apple App Store and will be live on Android very shortly. Check it out.