Save a life. Wherever they are.
Install DistantEmergency™ to directly call an emergency dispatcher closest to your contacts.
*** 911anywhere has now rebranded as DistantEmergency ***
DistantEmergency™ is a FREE mobile app install with optional $4.99/year subscription.
For enterprise access directly to the DistantEmergency database, click here or email info@distantemergency.com.
Save a life. Wherever they are.
DistantEmergency (previously known as 911anywhere) is a must for anyone who communicates with friends, family or colleagues in distant locations, especially by video. If you witness someone having a sudden emergency with no one on scene able to call for help, you could be their only hope…from hundreds of miles away. DistantEmergency lets you find, save and, if ever necessary, call the 911/emergency dispatch agency for U.S. locations. There is no faster way to send emergency services to a distant location.
Fast. Accurate. Always.
Dialing 911 on a phone connects you with the 911 agency near you. For an emergency in a distant location, you would need to report the distant address to this operator, who would need to research which agency covers that location and how to contact them, wasting precious time. The methods and speed with which local 911 agencies can handle these distant emergencies vary greatly, if an agency has the capability at all. DistantEmergency lets you contact the distant 911/emergency dispatch agency immediately and your contact’s address is already displayed to you in the app. Seconds save lives!
DistantEmergency uses ArcGIS geolocation data and a proprietary database built with publicly available 911/emergency dispatch agency contact and coverage data from sources such as DHS, FCC, public records and direct outreach to agencies themselves. Refinements and updates of the DistantEmergency database are continuous. Each time the app is opened, all agency information for saved contacts will have been checked against the database within recent weeks, with updates automatically and instantly applied to saved contacts.
With preconfigured contacts, you do not need a data or internet connection to contact a distant 911/emergency dispatch agency…just phone reception. Contacts’ pre-configured data is local to your phone and the call is made from your phone itself, without any other connections or infrastructure.
Instructions
Click Create Contact to save this data for those with whom you regularly communicate, especially over video, during which you are more likely to become aware of an emergency.
In an emergency…
1. Tap Contacts icon at the bottom.
2. Tap the contact having the emergency.
3. Confirm the victim is at or near the saved address.
4. Tap "call emergency dispatch."
5. Tap the phone number that appears at the bottom to make the call.
Make every effort to stay connected with the victim. If you cannot add a call, merge calls or use a separate device, it is a higher priority to contact that dispatcher as soon as possible, even if you must disconnect with the victim.
Inform the dispatcher you are calling from a distant location and unable to report the emergency by dialing 911.
Recommendations
Create multiple contacts for someone often in various locations and specify which location (e.g. college dorm) in the contact name.
Enter full addresses, including office or apartment numbers, when creating contacts. The address entered is saved as is and is displayed in that contact’s details in case you cannot remember the exact address in an emergency.
Save your own address(es) as a contact in case you become aware of an emergency there while you are out of the area.
Inform your contacts you’ve saved them in your DistantEmergency app and encourage them to do the same for you.
You must provide specific location information, i.e. full street address, to the dispatcher. There is no other way for them to locate the victim.
Warnings
DistantEmergency calls are made with your device's phone calling feature to a 10-digit phone number. In order for a DistantEmergency call to be made, your device must have cellular phone calling service.
DistantEmergency is for emergency use only when the caller and emergency location are in different 911 agency coverage areas. If in doubt, dial 911 by phone.
To report an emergency at your own location or within the same 911 agency coverage area, dial 911 by phone. If in doubt, dial 911 by phone.
DistantEmergency cannot determine the location of a distant emergency. You must provide the emergency’s exact address to the dispatcher.
If DistantEmergency does not work properly in an emergency, dial 911 by phone.
Once the call from DistantEmergency is placed, the response to the emergency is the responsibility of the applicable agencies and the outcome is subject to those agencies’ capabilities. Many agencies have a 10-digit emergency number that will be answered immediately by a dispatcher. However, other agencies do not have this same dedicated infrastructure and/or staffing, which can sometimes mean a DistantEmergency caller will have to navigate prompts (e.g. “press 1 for dispatch”) and/or experience hold times before speaking with a dispatcher. All emergency calls—direct local 911 calls or DistantEmergency app calls—face the same ever-present risk of extenuating circumstances including, but not limited to, outages and excessive call volumes.
An agency's automated prompt may instruct you to hang up and call 911 if it is an emergency. Instead, follow instructions to speak with a dispatcher, have an officer respond to your location or report a “non-emergency.” These options are the best ways to speak to a dispatcher and report an emergency from a distant location.
Agencies whose phone numbers have been assessed by DistantEmergency as not sufficiently reliable for reporting a distant emergency will not be available in the app until this assessment changes.
DistantEmergency is for emergency use only. Keymaker Cyber LLC will assist law enforcement to the fullest extent investigating and prosecuting misuse.
Terms
The free install version of DistantEmergency allows you to create one contact, which also displays a full phone number, which can be called after the contact is saved. The free install version does not allow you to create more than one contact. When you subscribe for $4.99/year, you are then able to create additional contacts and see their fully displayed numbers, which can be called after the contacts are saved.
Have questions?
Please email to opt-in for email notifications about news, tips and other DistantEmergency information.
If you report an emergency using DistantEmergency, it will likely be a traumatic experience. But when the time is right, please consider sharing some details of the incident so that if necessary, improvements to the user experience can be made to make DistantEmergency more effective at saving lives.