Safety Check

REFERENCES: US Patent 7,562,121 Berisford, Kimberley et al. US Patent 7,966,378 Berisford, Kimberley et al. US Patent 7,562,121 issued to Kimberly Berisford et al. and held by Kimberco Inc. details an automated process whereby messages and reminders are entered into a database and sent to a user on a desktop computer. The messages and reminders can be sent at any pre-determined time or frequency.  The messages and reminders require the user to respond with a "yes" or "no". .  The user's response is recorded and a message is sent to a pre-determined contact list via email and or text indicating the user's reponse.  This allows a care team, support group or friends and family to know in real time if the user is safe, appropriately responding to prompts and completing tasks and responsibilities during the day. A "non-response" is also recorded and sent to the contact list as an indicator of safety and well-being. The input of data, the messages, timing and frequency of messages and contact list  is completed remote from the cell phone, either on a laptop or desktop and downloaded to the user's cellphone. The application can be turned on or off as needed by the user.  The important element is the application can only be terminated after initiation from the user's original laptop or desktop.  US Patent 7,966,378 issued to Kimberly Berisford et al. and held by Kimberco Inc. allows the above cited process to be used with hand held smart phone/cell phones. For the “App Against Abuse, two critical coding changes have been made to capture more information about the user and verify that the user is the individual responding to the prompts. The first coding addition to capture more information about the user is, with  every "yes"  "no" or "non-response"  response on the part of a user, their current GPS location is recorded and linked to the response. For example, if a user responds that they are not OK or simply stops responding, their response and their GPS location will be sent to all their contacts on their list. The intent behind recording and sending a "non-response" to a user's contact list as an indicator of a possible problem is while abusers will try to isolate a potential victim from friends and communication or provide too much alcohol or intoxicating substances,  if the potential abuser takes the victim's  phone,  or renders them unable to respond, the non-response is recorded and sent to the contact list. The second coding addition to verify that the intended user is the individual responding, prompts about safety and well-being can be framed as trivia or personal history questions. For example, "The name of your first dog was?" A. Amora or B. Bubbie. where A or Amora means "I'm fine" and B or Bubbie means "I need help" This will help prevent a possible abuser from  taking  the phone and responding "yes" everything is fine. It also allows a potential victim to quest help without revealing the request for help to a potential abuser. Another aspect to to the application to hide the presence of the application on one's cell phone is, while the name of the application is "Safety Check" A user is encouraged to rename the application and choose an icon from available icons so the application blends into the background. A potential abuser would not be able to identify the application by name or icon with the intent to stop the application.  The real time monitoring of well-being and location of users  and the real time notification of identified contacts to assist in a crisis is one aspect of the application. The overarching purpose is to encourage self responsibility and individual safety planning. Including but not limited to the active use of the real time messaging by Safety Check, making appropriate safety choices, i.e. not drinking to the point of not being able to protect oneself, not accepting drinks from others, encouraging an atmosphere of self awareness and knowledge, learning how to assess environmental threats, taking self defense classes. Also included in the application, if a sexual abuse or domestic violence occurs, is the immediate access to emergent/urgent and on-going services. The application will sort and provide emergent/urgent and on-going resources per a users's current location.