Fargo, N.D. — A new free smartphone application from the North Dakota State University Extension Service, Fargo, aims to help stranded motorists. The Winter Survival Kit app is available free for both Android and iOS systems.

The app is available for free in the Android Market (download now) and the Apple Store (download now).

According to its developers, the free Winter Survival Kit app helps motorists:
-Find their current geographic location
-Call 911
-Notify friends and family
-Calculate how long you can run your engine to keep warm on remaining fuel
-Designate emergency contacts you want to alert if you become stranded
-Store important phone and policy numbers for insurance or roadside assistance

The Winter Survival Kit app alerts motorists every 30 minutes with a reminder to turn off the vehicle’s engine periodically and check the vehicle’s exhaust pipe for snow buildup to help avoid deadly carbon monoxide
poisoning.

The Winter Survival Kit app also provides NDSU Extension Service information on how to put together a physical winter survival kit, prepare your vehicle for winter driving and stay safe when stranded in a storm or stuck in snow.

The app was developed by Myriad Devices, a company based in the NDSU Research and Technology Park Incubator, which was founded by students and faculty in the NDSU Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and College of Business. The NDSU Extension Service provided design and content input, and funded the project with a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Smith-Lever Special Needs grant.

This is the second free smartphone app developed jointly by the NDSU Extension Service and Myriad Devices with NIFA support. Another app called The Disaster Recovery Journal app lets users record information about damages as they enter their flooded homes using text, images and audio, and provides Extension information on how to clean or deal with flood-damaged items.

Learn more about the apps at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension/apps
 
More information:
Download Winter Survival Kit app free for Android Market
https://market.android.com/details?id=md.apps.Blizzard
 
Download Winter Survival Kit app free from the Apple Store
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/winter-survival-kit/id482127435
 
NDSU Extension Service – Winter Survival tips
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension/apps/winter-survival-kit
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/winterstorm/winter-storm-information-family-1/stalled...-ut-safe/introduction
 
Myriad Devices – www.myriaddevices.com