Emergency SOS
One slide sends your position, a live audio stream and your full profile to the command centre, and keeps sending until someone reaches you or you prove you are safe. This is the page to read before you need it.
SOS is not a test button. Sliding it puts responders in motion and escalates to police. The app says it plainly on the Home screen: "Slide to trigger immediate emergency response. Only to be used in case of Abduction." For a medical problem use Request Ambulance; for something that already happened use Report an Incident.
When to use SOS
Trigger an SOS alert
There are three ways an alert starts. All three end up on the same screen.
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The Home screen slider Premium
Under the heading Emergency SOS, press the red SOS knob and drag it all the way to the right. A short drag does nothing. This is deliberate, so a pocket cannot fire it.
On a free account the slider opens a Premium Required dialog instead, with Not Now and Upgrade.
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Guardian Mode, automatically
If Guardian Mode is armed and hears a gunshot, a scream, violent struggle or one of your safe words, it starts a 15-second countdown and then raises the same alert without you touching the phone. See Guardian Mode.
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The SOS screen
Reached from a deep link or a notification. It shows Activating Emergency Alert… while it gets a GPS fix and connects to emergency personnel, then hands over to the live screen.
What happens the moment you slide
In order, and in about two seconds:
The app refuses to send a blind alert. You will see "Waiting for a reliable GPS location before sending SOS" and it keeps trying. Step outside or near a window if you can. A recent last-known position is accepted as a fallback.
The Emergency Active screen
Once the alert is live this screen takes over the app. It stays open, keeps the screen awake, and is where everything happens.
Location in Progress
What each element tells you
Live GPS stream
The map at the top is you. It updates continuously, and under it the app shows the reverse-geocoded street address so the command centre and you are looking at the same words, not just a pin.
- The stream keeps running with the screen locked and the app in the background: a persistent notification keeps it alive.
- If you move, the trail moves. If you stop, the timestamp keeps ticking so the operator knows the feed is still healthy.
- Lose signal and the app buffers, then flushes as soon as the connection returns.
Audio recording and streaming
From the moment the alert opens, the microphone records and streams. Two things to understand:
- It is silent. No tone, no vibration, no visible camera or recording indicator beyond your platform's own privacy dot. An attacker holding your phone sees an ordinary screen.
- It is encrypted in transit. The screen says so: "Audio & location streaming encrypted". It is retained as evidence of the incident.
If you denied the microphone permission, the alert still works; the banner just tells you audio is unavailable. Grant it in Settings before you need it.
Tracking your responder
When the command centre assigns someone, a green RESPONDER EN ROUTE card appears with their name.
- Tap "Track on live map"
A full-screen map opens with two markers: you, and the responder's live position updating as they drive.
- Read the ETA
Distance in kilometres and estimated minutes, recalculated as they approach.
- Stay put if it is safe to
A moving target is harder to reach. If you must move, keep the app open so the trail stays current.
Cancelling an alert
An alert cannot be cancelled by tapping. It requires the SOS cancellation code you were shown once at sign-up. This is what stops someone who has taken your phone from silencing your alert.
- Tap CANCEL ALERT
At the bottom of the Emergency Active screen.
- Enter your cancellation PIN
The sheet reads "Enter your cancellation password to safely cancel this alert."
- Confirm
Tap CONFIRM & CANCEL ALERT. You get "Alert cancelled successfully", the streams stop, and the event moves into your History marked as cancelled.
Lost the code? You cannot recover it in the app. Email support@rapidemergencysystem.com, and in the meantime, tell the responding operator over the live audio that you are safe. They can end the alert from their side.
If the command centre ends the alert
Operators can close an alert too. When they do, your screen updates by itself and tells you which happened:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Alert ended by command center | An operator closed it, usually after speaking to you or after a responder reached you. |
| It's been resolved | The incident was attended and marked resolved. |
| Alert marked as false alarm | Reviewed and judged not a real emergency. Nothing else happens; the record stays in your history. |
| Alert cancelled by user | You cancelled it with your code, possibly on another device. |
Returning to a live alert
You can leave the Emergency Active screen; the alert does not stop. To come back:
- On Home, the SOS slider is replaced by a green card: EMERGENCY ACTIVE, with Tap to return to emergency screen beneath it.
- Or open History and tap the event under ACTIVE EVENTS.
- Or tap the ongoing notification in your phone's shade.
SOS troubleshooting
The slider does nothing when I drag it
Two causes. Either you are on a free account, in which case the Premium Required dialog should appear, or the drag did not reach the far end. The slider intentionally requires a full-width swipe.
It says "Unable to get a reliable GPS fix yet"
Location Services are off, or you are indoors with no fix. Turn Location Services on, set RapidShield to Allow all the time, and step near a window. The app retries automatically and will use a recent last-known position if one exists.
The badge says CONNECTING and will not go LIVE
Your data connection dropped. The alert is still active at the command centre; it was created before the socket was needed. Location and audio are buffered and flushed when the link returns.
I triggered it by accident
Cancel it immediately with your cancellation code. Do not just close the app. That leaves responders in motion. If you do not have the code, speak into the phone: the operator can hear you and end the alert.
Can I trigger SOS without unlocking my phone?
Not from the lock screen. That is what Guardian Mode is for: it listens in the background and raises the alert for you, with no interaction at all.