Now Virtual Rally app come with SOS button to be used by crews in an emergency.
There are two types of emergency defined under Virtual Marshal app.
RED – Medical emergency need immediate assistance
YELLOW – Mechanical breakdown with likely route blockage
When a competitor presses the SOS button on his app two things happen:
- An immediate pop-up box appears in the tracking console of the organiser. The pop-up box shows competition number, contact number, geo-coordinates and time.
- An alert pop-up box opens up on the app of all competitors who approach the spot giving them advance warning of likely road blockage ahead.
The organisers can use the SOS information for coordinating appropriate rescue response based on type of emergency SOS. If the organisers plan and have all the ground teams / marshals running Virtual Marshal app as TEAM MEMBER then their tracking can also be done and response system can locate nearest rescue asset in real time even if one or more teams have been moved from their pre-assigned location along the route.
Other competitors get a advance warning of emergency declaration and give appropriate response including keeping the road clear for emergency vehicle access. Even in case of mechanical breakdown they get fair warning of road bloackage ahead.
It is to be noted that since entire Virtual Marshal system is based on GSM network the SOS and tracking responses are live only as far as the data coverage is available.