Emergency Contact Button or SOS Call (or sound)

[DeniHas3]

As a woman, walking, running and biking alone can be dangerous. Is it possible to have an emergency alert button that shows the contact of my choice or the authorities a location and SOS signal? The Gear 2 has it in place and I loved it. You push a button 3 times to send the alert.

Moderator Edit: Added Labels

[LinNaz]

Dear Mr. Park,

I have a suggestion that I hope is not too hard to implement but would benefit a lot of us. My mother has recently started wearing a fitbit, the other day we had a reason for her to send a quick "Help" text to one of her children. This would be so awesome for so many parents.

Ability to press a button that you can send an alert to a family member that you need help. E.g. I should be able to store my brother's cell # and if I am in trouble and cannot get out of it, I press a button on my fitbit and he gets an alert, don't call it medical alert just an alert "sos" to other family members!

Thank you.

Linda

Moderator Edit: Updated Title for Clarity/Added Labels

[kimberly0916]

got my Fitbit Blaze to not only help me count steps but to monitor my heartrate as it's a precursor (for me) to a potentially life threatening paralysis attack. However, it seems to be missing options for an emergency.

Here's what I need for my wearable to do, can the Blaze do any of them or do I need a different item?

**note that for item 1 it's already been suggested that I look into apps that my Fitbit will sync with and see if they'll handle the GPS/location status for either my Android or mom's iPhone

1) I need a way to text or call a specified emergency contact. Preferably I could send a pre-determined auto-text with GPS location to my mom's phone so that she'd know where I was when I sent the alert. For example, wearing only the watch and while walking the dog I feel a paralysis attack coming on and before I collapse I send the alert. The alert was already configured via the phone app and synced. The configuration includes which number to send the alert and preferably attaches a GPS location from the Blaze. Mom often knows the route I take to walk the dog but having the GPS location included would be amazing.

2) I need a way to trigger an audible alarm from the watch. In lieu of an alert text or call being made, I could trigger the emergency sound that continues to beep until an end-alarm button is pressed. This would help me if I fell in the house and needed to audibly alert mom to my situation.

[fiatwomen]

I have a basic fitbit but I am looking for a fitbit watch type item that has an emergency alarm on it to alert people around I need help without me having to find the energy to explain. I sat in the GP waiting room for half an hour yesterday having hyperglycemia, as type 1 diabetic. I was so tired I managed to inject but could do little else let alone explain to 'layman' that I needed to lie down and rest for a while.  I had loads of people walk straight past me but could not communicate that I needed assistance. I wondered if there was a fit bit type item that could provide an alarm attracting attention if this was to happen again. Luckily having injected I did recover, sometimes these episodes can hit quite fast and I could have easily fallen into a comer without being able to get anyone s attention!! Help. Kids have watches that remind them to take their meds etc, can we have a fit bit with an emergency medical alarm function??  

[Manohar]

I would like to have SoS Message feature under Setting menu in Blaze watch, which will enable the blaze owner to send SOS message to preset senders. This feature is available in mobile, but mobile is usually kept in pocket. So, in case of any emergency, the victim may not have sufficient time or chance to take out mobile, but watch is always accessible, which make it easier to send SoS message. So, if blaze can access or activate SOS message feature in mobile, then it will have added advantage.

[Rainey13]

I think it would be a great optional feature if fitbit had something like Life Alert or OnStar service people could subscribe to.

[erwbella]

I would love to feel safe with a Fitbit that also has a tracking system for either sos emergency while I'm running outdoors or if I wish to meet a friend who I work out with whom has a Fitbit too. I would also get my teenage daughter one if it had this function. Fingers crossed

[Zaa3015]

The Apple Watch has an SOS button that uses your phone (if in Bluetooth range) to call 911. I think this would be a useful feature on select trackers (eg. Blaze, Surge, Ionic, maybe Charge 2)

[tsmilo]

Install an alarm function for emergency purposes. This function would be extremely beneficial when we encounter life-threatening situations while for instance, we are jogging, walking, etc. It would also provide peace of mind for us to be able to have this kind of self-protection at hand always. 

[Tesimo]

 This is a great idea!

[LizFitbit]

Hi @tsmilo can you share any more about what you would want this alarm to do? For example, would it alert emergency services, or friends and family, or would it make a loud sound etc? Please share some more detail.

[Rich_Laue]

I'm wondering how this will work since the tracker does not have any way of making a noise.. 

[tsmilo]

Just a follow-up on the questions I received:

1. Question: Hi @tsmilo can you share any more about what you would want this alarm to do? For example, would it alert emergency services, or friends and family, or would it make a loud sound etc? Please share some more detail.

Answer: My idea for the alarm can be just a loud sound, the sound of a barking dog or a whistle sound. It can be any loud noise to distract the offending person and give you time to get away or call attention from other people in the area.This sound would be initiated by a small button on the bottom or side of the Fitbit. Discreet but easily accessible.

2. Question: I'm wondering how this will work since the tracker does not have any way of making a noise.

Answer: I'm hoping in the near future that the Fitbit will have the capability of making a sound instead of just the vibration. This is why I am suggestion this idea.

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[Zimni]

I came looking if this idea had already been suggested, and lo and behold it has! This would be a great addition for people like me who enjoy early morning runs but sometimes wait for the sun to rise and some traffic to commence. If there were a feature that I could possibly tap certain number of times to alert a family member, who can then track and call authorities. Also, if one could "share location" at any time, quite like how you can share your Uber ride status with sometime in real time or how iPhone allows you to have "Location" settings on for those you wish to share with.

Again, tracking would be great also in situations if the band falls off (happened twice owing to the button strap on Alta - another feature that could use an upgrade!).

[LizFitbit]

Thanks @tsmilo for clarifying, that's helpful.

@Zimni you might also be interested in this Feature Suggestion too: Personal-safety-panic-button-safe-trek-app-integration and Emergency-Contact-Button.

Thanks both!

[SantiR]

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing this suggestion. We're always striving to enhance Fitbit products and services, and we appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. We do not currently have plans to release this feature due to technical limitations. Please check this other suggestion which is asking for a more general future product addition and add your vote to it. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. For now, we will leave this suggestion open for votes (and closed to comments) so that we can continue to track community demand over time. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us and we will let you know if anything changes.

[Hotpink1st]

I wish they took this comment more serious. Just yesterday 4 men broke into our home at gun point and zip tied us in our bed. I woke up to them standing above me, they had already taken my phone but never took my charge 2 off me. If I could have done something to silently notify police, like hold the side button for 10 seconds it would have saved my wife from getting pistol whipped after breaking loose and calling 911. They would have also not been alerted to the cops being on the way and would have been caught. 

[DeniHas3]

Wow! That's a story they need to take seriously. So sorry to hear.

[Hotpink1st]

I started a change.org to try and get some attention. 
https://www.change.org/p/fitbit-ceo-james-park-fitbit-add-a-911-alert-feature-to-charge-2-and-other-...

[Kweela]

I also wish for this feature. Either an emergency to authorities or to a chosen contact. Preferably both! I always take my phone running, specifically for this purpose, but I think that in emergencies, more options to alert someone increase the chances of getting help.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Nice suggestion, thanks for sharing. We look forward to hearing what other community members think.

[NotYetaUser]

+1

I am looking for a sport connected watch and came accross the blaze model.

I understand emergency alert is still not available. Found user request dated back in Feb 2017, but suggestion archived.

To me, this feature makes Fitbit watch out of the game for now. Same when recommending to family and friends.

Found Samsung Gear S2/3 proposes the alert feature based on Glympse third party service. 

Feature : 3 button press trigger a text message to up to 3 pre-registered contacts with following information: 1/ Alert text 2/Current localisation (address) 3/Link to glympse allowing to track GPS position during 1 hour

Maybe Fitbit could implement this too in order to cover this gap.

Please let us know if this feature is somehow in fitbit roadmap and when for?

Thanks

BR

Pascal

[Meplus1]

I would love to see a feature we could that allows us to use our fitbit as a location / tracking device in the event of an emergency when we are away from our phone    or maybe even a sos feature!  Maybe we could designate someone to be able to track the location of our fitbit in an emergency    

Moderator Edition Labels. 

[AlexandraFitbit]

That’s an interesting idea and could be useful, thanks for sharing this suggestion.

[spookyspacecoyo]

I'm also super interested in this future. I currently use an apple watch, and honestly the one thing keeping me from switching to FitBit Versa is the SOS feature on my apple watch. Right now, I'm able to press hold down the side button, and it calls emergency services and alerts my emergency contacts to my location. As a social worker, this is an invaluable service to me as I often work out in the community and while I've yet to encounter an emergency situation, having this feature eases my mind.