Aggie Alum Create App to Aid in Emergencies
Former USU math professor Cathy Callow-Heusser spent many years in many different departments at USU. While her son was attending Edith Bowen, she helped as a room mom, there meeting a spunky red-head named Charles Major.
Callow-Heusser helped Major in reading, also employing him in high school. Major, who graduated from Utah State with a Masters of Business Administration in 2012, recently made contact with Callow-Heusser again, and upon hearing of her current business adventure, decided to join in on the fun.
Upon early retirement from USU, Callow-Heusser worked for the state office in education. Two years ago, a student ran through Ellis Elementary with a loaded gun, putting the school in a lockdown situation.
It was mentioned in the training from a police sergeant that active shooters were targeting phone noises, notifications, phone calls, and backlights of screens in dark places. Police warned teachers that they should shut their phones off to avoid shooters being able to target them.
As a former teacher, Callow-Heusser knew that encouraging students to turn off their phones would be almost impossible, especially in an emergency situation and from there the idea for the Safe on Scene app was born.
The SOS Safe on Scene app is easy-to-use, and requires just a few pieces of information upon initial download to help in cases of real emergencies.
The practice lockdown mode helps familiarize users with the buttons of the app that are pressed in actual emergencies. These buttons help users receive help almost automatically, depending on the amount of danger.
The app also has an option to shut off the backlight of cell phones automatically, so that users are not frantically attempting to turn off their settings while in an emergency, making them a more vulnerable target for shooters.
Callow-Heusser and Major said that this app is for everyone, but their main market is geared towards college and high school students and their parents.
“One thing is that we want students to be more safe,” Callow-Heusser said. “This app immediately sends a text to 911, and with the upgraded version, allows texts to be sent to family members to update them on the seriousness of the emergency.”
Major and Callow-Heusser are expanding into several other safety apps as well as educational apps and are looking to grow their fairly new company into something larger.
“We are really focused on keeping people safe and raising awareness,” Major said. “We want to give people peace of mind as a lifeline so that they know what to do in those situations.”
Both Callow-Heusser and Major are proud Aggies, grateful for their time spent at USU in areas of software engineering, math, and coding, and hope to use their skills to give back.
“It’s sad because although school shootings are increasing, and as much as I would personally like them to disappear, I think it’s important to get the message out,” Callow-Heusser said.
The basic features of the app are free to use, and can be found on the app store.
For more information, visit bettermentlabs.com
—kortni.marie.wells@aggiemail.usu.edu
@kortniwells