Mobile application

July 7, 2021

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus has developed a mobile application "MES of Belarus

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus has developed a mobile application "MES of Belarus. Help is nearby," one of the most important tasks of which is to help a person act effectively in an emergency situation. Currently, any owner of a modern smartphone or tablet running the Android operating system can install it, and the application has also become available to iPhone and iPad users.

Rescuers studied the market of mobile applications available in the country and found that there were none that would allow quick orientation in non-standard situations. For example, a broken thermometer, a traffic accident, a forest fire, a thunderstorm on the street, etc. This is how the application for Belarusian users "MES of Belarus: Help is nearby" was created.

"Five steps to salvation" is the principle according to which the application operates.

The "What to do?" section contains more than 50 possible dangerous situations (downpour, thunderstorm, flood, snowfall, fire, etc.) and provides recommendations from the Ministry of Emergency Situations on how to behave and act.

The application has a built-in interactive map where you can track weather changes, as well as a notification program about adverse and dangerous phenomena from the Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Radioactive Contamination Control and Environmental Monitoring.

Another important feature is the "112" button to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations. People in critical situations forget the phone numbers of emergency services. You can make a call from various pages of the application or directly from the "What to do?" section. Rescuers have implemented call variability – they have added the ability not only to connect to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but also to send SMS or make calls to a specified number – for example, to a doctor or relatives. This will allow you to contact the right person in emergency cases, which is especially important for people with various diseases. Setting numbers, as well as the ability to change the message text, are implemented in the user settings.

The "Test Yourself" section allows you to check your knowledge using the provided tests and compare your answers with the results of other users. You can fill in knowledge gaps in the "Encyclopedia" section, which contains many necessary and useful articles.

A "First Aid" section has also been added to the application, equipped with audio prompts for first aid actions. The section was created with the support of the Belarusian Red Cross Society. The first aid skills training program, which forms the basis of the section, is accredited by the European First Aid Training Reference Centre of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) (IFRC Global First Aid Reference Centre).

The "Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus. Help is Nearby" application allows every smartphone or tablet owner to stay informed about adverse weather forecasts and have information at hand on how to act in any emergency situation. To download the application, simply enter "Ministry of Emergency Situations" in the Google Play Market search, and our application will be the first in the list.