FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for communicating medical alerts, and in particular, a system for communicating medical alerts for people who may be unable to do so themselves.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When a person is in medical distress, such as a result of a drug overdose, it is imperative that medical assistance be provided as soon as possible. However, in many instances, that person may be physically incapable of requesting medical assistance, and if that person is alone, there may not be anyone around to request medical assistance on behalf of that person.

There is therefore a desire for a system that is able to alert relevant authorities even in the event that a person is physically incapable of doing so himself or herself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, the invention comprises a mobile application designed to operate on a mobile device. The user, through a user interface, inputs the drug being taken, and activates a start input. This begins a timer that runs down from a predetermined amount of time. If the user does not activate a stop input before the timer runs out of time, an alert is generated. This alert may be displayed on the user interface. In addition, emergency personnel are contacted. Information regarding the user, the drug taken, and the location of the mobile device may be transmitted to the emergency personnel so that medical assistance may be provided.

In another embodiment, a method for alerting emergency personnel in the event of medical distress by a user comprises the steps of providing a mobile application for use on a mobile device; recording, by the mobile application, of a location of the user and a drug taken by the user; initiating, by the user, a timer with a predetermined amount of time; upon the timer expiring without any further input by the user, transmitting, by the mobile application, a message to a remote server, the location of the user and the drug taken; converting, by the remote server, the message into an audio message; determining, by the remote server, an appropriate one of emergency personnel to contact, based, at least in part, on the location of the user; contacting, by the remote server, the appropriate emergency personnel; and transmitting the audio message to the appropriate emergency personnel.

In yet another embodiment, the step of recording, by the mobile application, of the location of the user and the drug taken by the user further comprises recording of a name of the user and a current time.

In a further embodiment, the location of the user may be determined by a location detection sensor located on the mobile device.

In yet a further embodiment, the location detection sensor is a Global Positioning System sensor.

In another embodiment, the step of converting, by the remote server, the message into the audio message is done using a text-to-voice converter.

The foregoing was intended as a summary only and of only some of the aspects of the invention. It was not intended to define the limits or requirements of the invention. Other aspects of the invention will be appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

