Find Protection, Download uSafeNH

Justin Siewierski

Editor-In-Chief

js2010@plymouth.edu 

If someone feels threatened, scared or violated, the USafeNH smartphone app is something that they need to download as soon as possible.

The Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART) developed a smartphone app that gives students the ability to safely access emergency care in stressful, cautionary or dangerous situations.

The information for the app itself started from conversations at the SART meeting in Campton. SART started holding meetings in Campton back in 2007. As of right now, there are 12 different SART groups across nine counties in New Hampshire, with Plymouth’s group being the oldest.

SART’s mission statement is to “treat sexual assault cases with respect.” Its primary focus deals with sexual assault cases with adults.

With that said, the groups themselves are made up of professions of all sorts: members of law enforcement, nurses, members of Voice Against Violence, investigators and attorneys, just to name a few.

“When we first started SART, it seemed like everyone was on different islands,” said Campton police chief Chris Warren. “The point of SART is to bring everyone together that has an idea as to how to help with sexual assault victims, rather than trying to handle the approaches we take separately.”

Kathleen Kimball, New Hampshire Sexual Assault Resource Team coordinator, came up with the idea of making a smartphone app for students on college campuses.

“The committee for the app started meeting in the spring of 2015 and really just took off,” said Kimball. “We ended up getting some graduate students from UNH Manchester to work on the process of making the app, and it’s become something that students should really be aware about.”

The app is simple and free. Once downloaded (free in both Android and Apple markets) the smartphone user picks the campus they’re attending at the time. Once the campus has been selected, the user can delve into a list of options.

The first option in the list says “expect me.” Inside this, you can add a phone number or contact, and set a timer for when you want the phone to make a call. This gives you complete discretion in a dangerous situation, where instead of pulling out your phone and calling, you can set a timer and have the receiver pick up on anything suspicious when the timer goes off. The “expect me” feature will also call 911 or the police station in the local campus town.

Along with this option, there are three informational options: “helpful answers,” “campus resources,” and “what now?” These have lists of helpful tips, definitions and suggestions that can be very useful, especially if you aren’t sure what to do.

These options give users information to determine whether they’ve been sexually assaulted and what measures they should take from that point. There are also resources with crisis center phone numbers and near–by hospitals, and how to get there.

The USafeNH app is free of charge, and was developed in New Hampshire. Students around a college or university anywhere in the state can-and should download this app for their safety.