For more than 20 years, OnStar has partnered with the public safety community to provide OnStar Members with emergency assistance and a sense of security whenever they’re in their GM vehicles. Now, with the launch of the new OnStar Guardian™ app, Members can take advantage of OnStar’s key safety features in their everyday lives ― even if they aren’t in their vehicle.
Eligible Members and their families can now get the OnStar Guardian™ app — and have key OnStar safety services anywhere they are — in any vehicle, at home, even while out walking. It takes “peace of mind” to a whole new level.
Although the embedded vehicle system remains the primary way OnStar works with First Responders, the OnStar Guardian™ app brings unique benefits to overall public safety — with smartphone access to assistance in case of a vehicle crash, vehicle issue or other emergency. Since the app uses GPS satellite data, OnStar can provide the Emergency Communications Centers (ECCs) with precise location details that are more accurate in pinpointing a scene than the ping from a cell phone tower.
Members now have OnStar’s Mobile Crash Response,2 Roadside Assistance,3 Emergency Services, Location Status4 and other key safety features in the palm of their hands, thanks to the app. Parents of a teenager who’s out with friends can rest assured that the app would use smartphone sensors to detect vehicle movement from a crash and, through Mobile Crash Response, contact an OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisor5 who would contact the proper ECC to get help. Using Location Status, the app allows Members and their loved ones to share their locations in real time so they can see, for example, when someone has arrived at a destination. And, if an unexpected health emergency or urgent situation arises, Members can use the SOS button to request assistance from an Emergency-Certified Advisor.
Cross-Country Rescue or Help Down the Street
OnStar Members are already realizing the benefits of using the Guardian app when the unexpected occurs.
For example, a Seattle-area man recently pressed the Guardian app’s Emergency SOS button to get help for his 83-year-old mother who had called to tell him she had suffered a fall in her house all the way across the country, in a suburb of Atlanta. She had been lying on her bedroom floor, unable to get up for several hours. He knew it would be very difficult for him to reach the correct 911 center for her area, so he used his Guardian app and spoke with an OnStar Emergency Advisor, who was able to use the many tools at their disposal to quickly and efficiently request medical assistance be dispatched to the woman at her home.
In another instance, a woman was walking around San Francisco when she lost her sense of direction and needed to get back to her Chevrolet Volt. Because of a previous leg injury that she was nursing back to health, she was experiencing some pain and was concerned about how long it would take her to find her way. Although it wasn’t serious enough for a call to 911, she felt she needed help. Through the app, she pressed the SOS button and an OnStar Advisor was able to locate her connected vehicle through Location Status and view the direction in which she was walking from within the app. The Advisor navigated her safely back to her car, step-by-step.
A Beacon in a Time of Need
Many OnStar Members will find the Guardian app comforting, thanks to the safety and security features they’ve come to trust. In addition to assisting in obvious emergencies, the app’s SOS button takes the guesswork out of the equation when Members just aren’t sure how to respond to a situation that may require help. The app also can be used as a Good Samaritan tool to request aid when Members see someone who needs it.
The Guardian app gives Emergency Advisors critical information they need to get the right kind of help to the right location. It’s a powerful location tool that allows Advisors to provide First Responders with accurate, essential information when an emergency arises ― and it could help save a life in the process.
For more information on how the Guardian app can impact you on the job, visit onstar.com/publicsafety or contact us at emergencyservices@onstar.com. You also can refer to our recent story about the app here.
