The Commonwealth Minister for Justice, Michael Keenan today launched the Emergency+ smartphone app at the City of Sydney Fire Station.

“As more Australians use mobile phones, it is no surprise that more than 65% of calls to Triple Zero are made from mobile phones” Mr Keenan said, “but with this increase in mobile phone use, it is sometimes making it difficult for Triple Zero operators to accurately and quickly dispatch emergency services”.

The Emergency+ app addresses this issue by offering callers the ability to verbally provide emergency operators with their location information as determined by their smartphone’s GPS functionality.

The Emergency+ app provides users with the contact numbers and a short explanation of when to call the non-emergency numbers such as the Police Assistance Line, 131 444 and the SES/NTES national number, 132 500. This is to help members of the public dial the correct number and reduce the number of calls to Triple Zero which should be directed to another service. 

The iPhone and Android versions of the “Emergency+” app are now available, free of charge, for download on iTunes and Google Play respectively. Links are as follows:  
iPhone - https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/emergency-+/id691814685?mt=8
Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.threesixtyentertainment.nesn

Training video available at You Tube: http://youtu.be/hThHoRNhEnQ