By Divya Kumar

It’s National Download Day, and the American Red Cross offers many apps that you can download for FREE!

The Emergency app is a good place to start. Here, you can monitor over 35 severe weather and emergency alerts to help keep you and your family safe. There are also specific apps for Hurricanes, Tornadoes and Earthquakes for those who live in areas prone to these types of disasters. Be sure to turn on alerts in your settings to get notifications!

The Red Cross First Aid and Pet First Aid apps are great in a pinch if you, your pet, or someone near you is experiencing a health crisis. In the Pet First Aid app, you can toggle between Cat and Dog and prepare for and treat common health scares, like choking. I have cats, and this app has helped me get a baseline of their health stats so that I know when their temperature is too high or their heart is beating too quickly. It has helped me prepare for things like blood sugar emergencies, burns, car accidents, allergic reactions, and much more! Pro tip: The fastest thing you can do (besides downloading the app, of course) searching for “emergency veterinarian near <your zip code>” in your browser.

For First Aid, you can check out life-threatening events like allergies, asthma, bleeding, choking, concussion and head injuries, CPR, diabetic emergencies, heart attacks, heat stroke, hypothermia, poisoning, seizures, and more! You can also learn how to respond to less threatening situations, like broken bones and burns, to help you decide on the next best steps.

The Red Cross Swim app is great for learning about water safety. Did you know that even if you are a good swimmer, drowning is still very much a possibility? In fact, drowning is a leading cause of death among children. A child or weak swimmer can drown in the time it takes to reply to a text, check a fishing line, or apply sunscreen. Death and injury from drownings happen every day in home pools and hot tubs, at the beach or in oceans, lakes, rivers and streams, bathtubs, and even buckets.

With the Blood Donor app, you can schedule an appointment to donate blood or platelets, track your donations, and even find out at what hospital and city your donations were used. There’s also a lot of great information to help you prepare to donate blood and recover afterward.

Lastly, the Hero Care app is an all-in-one resource for caring for vets, whether that be you as a vet, or if you are a caregiver. One of the best features in this app is thee Hero Care Resource Directory, which is great for finding resources and support for food, housing, transit, money, and much more.

Once you download the apps of your choice, be sure to spread the word! Happy Download Day from us to you!