'A neighbour in need': Napier man creates emergency app to assist the vulnerable

Siji John is the proud creator of an app which will help the vulnerable feel safer. Photo / Paul Taylor

A Hawke's Bay man has taken it upon himself to help the community by creating a phone app for people to alert neighbours in case of an emergency.

Napier-based Siji John, 44, has no background in IT or coding, but when a violent assault on an elderly neighbour and her son happened in close proximity to his home, he decided action needed to be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again.

"I moved to Napier from Auckland in 2016, because I thought it was the safest place in New Zealand," he told Hawke's Bay Today.

"But then the elderly woman and her son were attacked in June last year, so close to my work and home."

A 94-year-old woman and her son in his 70s were seriously injured in the attack at a Kennedy Rd unit in June, 2021.

A 25-year-old man was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

"The woman's son was my wife's boss, and no one heard about the attack, and emergency services came too late. No one knew what had happened to her."

He said it was at that point he and his wife started talking about what they could do to help the community.

"We talked about community patrols, neighbourhood watch, but then I came up with the idea of a mobile app because a majority of people have mobiles and use apps."

John, a hotel management graduate, said he had no background in IT. So he enlisted help from people better qualified than him to develop the app.

"I enlisted the help of five IT developers in India and a graphic designer. I gave them the idea and told them what I needed."

Napier-based Siji John is hoping his phone app can help make the community feel safer. Photo / Paul Taylor

He said he started off with the app called 'Callout +' sending out an alert to all contacts in the phone if tapped three times.

But decided it needed to be broader than that.

So he expanded it to send an alert out to everyone within a 1km radius.

"When it is tapped, it will send out an alert which sounds like a fire alarm, along with a name and location of the person."

If it is accidentally tapped, the alert can also be cancelled because it comes with an 'I am safe button'.

"So if I have an emergency I can tap the app, and my neighbours will know, and so will anyone within the 1km radius."

John hopes to have emergency services on board after the official launch of it on February 16.

The app is already live and can be downloaded on Google apps and the Play Store.