The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Emergency Management and Planning (EMP) has introduced a new feature in the Carolina Ready Safety App called “I’m OK!” This feature lets users quickly notify contacts about their whereabouts and status during a campus emergency.
The idea for “I’m OK!” stemmed from feedback received after the Aug. 28 incident expressing the need for a tool to communicate safety status with family and friends. Developed and engineered by AppArmor, the company behind the Carolina Ready Safety App, this feature was tailored to meet the specific needs of the Carolina community.
“We’re excited to offer this new feature in Carolina Ready,” says EMP Director Darrell Jeter. “We recognize the importance of staying connected with loved ones during an emergency event, and this feature allows users to communicate directly with their family and friends as quickly and easily as possible.”
The feature allows users to pre-identify contacts they want to communicate with during an emergency. With the touch of a button, a text or email message will open on the user’s device, addressing those pre-identified contacts to inform them of the user’s safety and the intention to reconnect when it is safe to do so.
Users are not required to pre-identify contacts to use this feature. A text or email message will also open on the user’s device without a pre-identified contact, allowing the user to add the intended recipient’s information at that time.
The Carolina Ready Safety App is designed to ensure users are notified and informed during an emergency. The App includes safety alerts, on-campus safety tools, emergency response guides, campus maps and a variety of health, wellness and campus accessibility resources. All members of the Carolina community, including parents and nearby residents, are encouraged to download and utilize the resources available within the app.