Digital tools that could save your life

South Korea: Tracking an approaching stalker

On June 24, 2026, South Korea launched one of its newest digital personal safety tools.

The government application allows stalking victims to see the real-time location and direction of movement of offenders required to wear electronic ankle monitors. When an offender comes within a specified distance, the victim can view their location and route on a smartphone map.

Previously, victims received only text messages indicating the distance between them and the offender. The new service provides more detailed information, allowing victims to assess the danger, move to a safe location and contact the police.

The system was developed after a woman in her 20s was killed by her stalker in March. The offender was wearing an electronic ankle monitor and was subject to several court-issued restraining orders. The victim, meanwhile, had been given an emergency smartwatch.

According to South Korea’s Ministry of Justice, the government is also working to integrate the tracking system with the police 112 emergency service. This will allow responding officers to see the locations and routes of both the victim and the offender.

South Korea recorded 13,533 stalking cases in 2024, up 12.3% from the previous year, according to gender ministry data cited by Yonhap. More than half of the cases involved the victims’ current or former partners, while men accounted for 76.2% of identified offenders.

Washington: Volunteers respond to cardiac arrest

The US application PulsePoint Respond connects local emergency dispatch centers with people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR.

When a suspected cardiac arrest occurs in a public place, the application can alert trained users who are nearby. It also shows them the patient’s location and the nearest registered automated external defibrillator.

One such alert was issued in May 2025 after a man suffered cardiac arrest inside a Costco store in Burlington, Washington. An off-duty firefighter-paramedic who was in a nearby business received the notification and responded. He joined store employees and other bystanders, including several nurses, in providing assistance.

The man survived and later returned home. Skagit County Emergency Medical Services said the PulsePoint alert, early CPR and the rapid response of people at the store contributed to the successful outcome.

According to the PulsePoint Foundation, early CPR and defibrillation can double or triple a patient’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest.

The application does not replace ambulance services. Its purpose is to reduce the critical interval between cardiac arrest and the arrival of professional medical responders.

California: Satellite message guides rescuers

Mobile emergency services can provide communication in places without cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.

In December 2022, a vehicle carrying two people left a mountain road and fell approximately 90 meters into a remote canyon in California’s Angeles National Forest. Both occupants survived the crash but could not make a conventional emergency call because there was no mobile signal.

Using the Emergency SOS via satellite feature on an iPhone 14, they sent information about the crash and their location to an emergency relay center. The center contacted local authorities, who dispatched police officers, firefighters and a rescue helicopter.

The two people were located and airlifted from the canyon.

The satellite service allows users of compatible devices to send text messages to emergency services when conventional communication networks are unavailable. The system can transmit a person’s coordinates, elevation, remaining phone battery and answers to questions about the emergency.

Michigan: Three words help locate a lost person

In June 2025, a person became lost deep inside a state forest near Evart, Michigan. The individual had run out of water, was disoriented and could not explain their exact location to emergency dispatchers.

Operators communicated with the person by text and identified their coordinates using the what3words application.

The service divides the Earth’s surface into squares measuring three by three meters and assigns each one a unique combination of three words. Instead of attempting to describe an unfamiliar forest, mountain area or rural road, a person can provide those words to a dispatcher.

After receiving the location, the Evart Area Fire Department deployed all-terrain vehicles and other rescue equipment into the forest. Emergency responders found the lost person, provided water and transported them for medical evaluation.

The fire department said the precise coordinates allowed rescuers to locate and evacuate the individual quickly. The case demonstrated how location technology can reduce search times.

The system is now used by emergency services in a number of countries to identify locations that are difficult to describe using conventional addresses.

San Diego: An alert arrives before an earthquake

The MyShake application, developed by the University of California, Berkeley, distributes earthquake warnings using data from the US Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert system. Sensors detect an earthquake after it begins, estimate its magnitude and send warnings to areas where strong shaking has not yet arrived.

During a magnitude 5.2 earthquake near San Diego in April 2025, some MyShake users received notifications up to 35 seconds before they felt the shaking.

That time can allow people to move away from windows, switch off dangerous equipment or take cover. Automated systems connected to the warning network can also slow trains, close valves and activate backup power.

According to California authorities, MyShake had been downloaded more than four million times by April 2025. Since its launch, it has sent more than five million notifications concerning 170 earthquakes.

The warning time is not always this long. People near an earthquake’s epicenter may receive only a few seconds of notice or no advance warning at all. Nevertheless, the ShakeAlert system serves more than 50 million residents and visitors across California, Oregon and Washington.

Kazakhstan: School students develop a heart-monitoring system

Four school students from Aktau have developed a system that monitors a person’s condition around the clock and automatically warns their relatives of a potential danger.

At the heart of the system is an AI-powered microcomputer. It receives data from sensors and analyses the user’s pulse, heart rhythm and other indicators in real time.

If the system detects dangerous changes, the user’s relatives receive a Telegram notification within five seconds. A built-in sensor can also detect a fall within two seconds.

The idea emerged after one of the students began thinking about the safety of his elderly relatives. According to the developers, the system is intended to reduce the time between a sudden deterioration in a person’s condition and the delivery of assistance.

The team is now working to make the device more compact, accurate and convenient for everyday use. In the future, the students hope the system could be introduced into social programs.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan’s Cerebra AI stroke diagnosis system had reduced mortality by 40% in the regions where it was deployed.