In the wake of last week’s abduction of three teenagers, an Israeli company has made available a nationwide reporting system that could prevent the repeat of such an event.

David Shamah of the Times of Israel reports that NowForce, which makes systems for first responders, is making its system available for free to all Israelis.

The emergency app NowForce is offering Israelis includes a big SOS button, which app users press to set the process in motion. Once the button is pressed, the NowForce reporting center will alert responders who are in the area of an emergency, including police, local security officials and United Hatzalah emergency rescue workers. The app shows them a map of where the incident took place, and provides turn-by-turn instructions to get to the site. It also provides forms, updates and anything else connected to the specific incident, and lets responders take photos, videos and audio recordings of the incident.

The app will also simultaneously call the police and send the caller’s location to his/her emergency contacts and local emergency service providers such as United Hatzalah. “We invite the police and other national and local emergency service providers to take part in this initiative to safeguard Israel’s citizens,” she said.

The system had been available for subscribers to the service for several years, but after last week’s kidnappings, the company “decided to release this to the general public for free as a way to boost the personal safety of Israelis all around the country,” according to Julie Zuckerman, a spokeswoman for the company.

In addition to helping emergency personnel get to the scene quickly, NowForce also has a system to prevent fraud. During the kidnapping last week, one of the victims reportedly called the police, but there were some initial doubts about the authenticity of the call.

In areas where NowForce’s system is in place, response times to emergencies has been cut dramatically.

[Photo: TheNowForceChannel / YouTube ]