Q: How do you report an emergency?

A: There are two ways you can report an emergency. One, press a finger on the map located on the Home screen of the app. (This is called a hard press.) This will create a pop-up with the address of where you pressed, a blue button for tips, and a red button for emergencies. If you want to report an emergency in your current location, just hard press the pulsating blue dot on the map. Two, press the red button at bottom center on the Home screen. Both of these methods will move you to the screen, Report emergency.

Q: When you press the red button in the PunchAlert mobile app, who gets the alert?

A: If you are in your organization’s geofence, the alert goes directly to your internal responders. It does not go to other users. It is up to your organization’s responders to determine if the emergency needs to be released to other users in the organization.

Q: What happens when you press the red button to report an emergency?

A: Pressing the red button will move you to the Report Emergency screen. You have a 30-second countdown. (A countdown display is located below the Report button located at bottom of the screen.) If you can’t wait for 30-seconds, press the Report button as soon as you land on the screen. What if you hit the red button by accident? Press the Cancel button (X in the top right corner of the screen). If you don’t do any of these actions, the emergency will automatically be reported to your responders at the end of the countdown.

Q: What if the address is showing incorrectly on the Report Emergency screen?

A: Before reporting, check your address located at top of the screen. If you need to change, press the address and you will be able to reset using several choices – Drop A Pin, Search (type in the address and then select correct one), or Current Location. Do you have enough time before the 30-second countdown ends? Definitely, the countdown will stop and restart once an address is set.

Q: After you hit the Report button, what happens?

A: Once you press the Report button, you will be asked to select a category/type of emergency. If you don’t know how to categorize the emergency or don’t have time, just press Skip. Your responders will be able to categorize once they know what is happening. It is important to categorize if possible, so responders know what is happening. Also, emergency plans are attached to categories and are viewable by users in the emergency stream.