General:

The purpose of this application is to prepare a text message for transmission to a 911 center.  The components of the text message are (1) created by software functions embedded in the application,  (2) drop-down boxes, (3) pre-filled data fields, and (4) by typing in data.

Components:

Send Text to 911 button => This will display a dialog box with a contact list of those persons you wish to receive the message at the same time it is sent to 911.  Check the boxes of the persons to receive the message.  Having your own phone number in the list will insure that the message was transmitted. The lower part of the dialog box is the message that will be delivered to 911. At the time this application was developed the maximum number of characters was 160.  If the message exceeds this number, a warning dialog box will appear.  If you chose "Review text message", the following sequence will be will be done until the message is 160 characters or less: (1) If aid is to be sent to an address, the GPS coordinates will be removed, (2) If aid is to be sent to GPS coordinates, the address will be removed, (3) The types of emergency will be truncated, but will include at least one type and (4) Special Instructions will be truncated. If the message is not as you intended press "Cancel" to edit the message, otherwise press "Send Message", which will display a progress bar dialog box.  Use the Cancel button on the progress bar dialog box to cancel sending the text message.

Your Name => Name by which you wished to be called. This can be entered in your profile.   Go to Settings->Profile.

Your Phone Number => Normally the phone sending the text message, but could be another number if the situation warrants. This can be entered in your profile.  Go to Settings->Profile.

Incident Address => The address at which assistance is needed.  The "Preloaded Address" button will allow selection of another preloaded address.  These addresses are entered using Settings->Profile.  The addresses can be locations at which you spend most of your time, i.e., home, work, gym, relatives.  Be sure to include the city or town of the address. The Incident Address is in an edit box.  Touch the edit box to display a keyboard for entering an address that is not in your profile.

GPS Coordinates => Latitude and longitude are displayed below the "Preloaded Addresses" button and are refreshed at an interval of approximately 15 seconds. 

What is your emergency buttons => Press these buttons to display a drop down list of incident types.  Select multiple categories, i.e. Law Enforcement, Fire, and Medical and multiple incident types as needed.  If your email message exceeds 160 characters, some of the incident types may be truncated.  List the most serious incidents first. If your type of incident is not in any list, then entered it into Special Instructions.

Special Instructions => Touch this box to display a keyboard and enter any data that may be helpful, e.g. Tornado, Bridge out, Flooding, Power lines down, etc.

Sound Control button => This will display the SOUNDS AND VIBRATION page in your phone\'s Settings.  Select Sound, Vibrate or Mute as appropriate for your situation.

Helpful Hints:

The maximum number of characters for a text message for this application is 160 characters.  Use common abbreviations when possible, e.g., St for Street, Ct for Court, Blvd for Boulevard, Dr for Drive, Ln for Lane, Hwy for Highway, Frwy for Freeway, Pl for Place.  Below the Special Instruction edit box is a message box which indicates the number of characters remaining in the message as you enter data.

Go to Settings->Contact List and fill in the contact names and phone numbers of those persons you wish to receive the text message when it is sent to 911.  Use the symbol "@" to separate the contact name and the phone number.  Use a 10-digit phone number.  Examples are: Matt@232-485-8721, Matt@(232)485-8721 or Matt@2324858721.

The "Reset" button will allow you to clear these fields:
    - GPS Coordinates
    - Type of Emergency
    - Special Instructions