One thing that makes smartphones so desirable is their ability to download applications allowing you to turn your mobile device into multiple devices. The iPhone (News - Alert) alone has millions of apps designed to help you with everything from finding where you parked your car to giving you options of where to eat. Just in time for winter, a new app has surfaced called the Winter Survival Kit.

Bob Bertsch and Jake Joraanstad both worked on the application together, only a year after they developed an app that was concerned with flooding. Due to their previous success, they decided to focus on another life threatening weather condition -- snow.

This is a free app; available on both the iPhone and Android (News - Alert) mobile devices, it is there to assist you while you are driving during a winter storm. It is similar to On-Star without having to pay for the membership fee. Like On-Star, the application can pinpoint your location and send emergency services way if you are unable to get help.

The application also has the ability to calculate how much gas your vehicle has left and inform your friends and family of your emergency situation with just the touch of a button. The application also offers one thing most people wouldn’t think of if they were stranded in their car -- carbon monoxide monitoring.

If your car is stuck on the side of the road in the middle of a blizzard and you call for emergency assistance, it might take some time for the ambulance or fire department to fight the elements and rescue you.

In the meantime, most people would think to keep their car running and stay inside in the heat. However, carbon monoxide can build up and, since it’s undetectable by smell, you could end up being slowly poisoned.

Both Bertsch and Joraanstand thought of this and included in the application a setting that has the ability to set off an alarm every thirty minutes to remind you to check your exhaust and to turn off your engine.

 “It’s our sincere hope that no one ever has to use it,” said Bertsch. “But if one person does have to use it and it keeps them in their car or keeps them from succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning, then it is definitely worth the time and effort that was spend on the app,” said Bertsch.

Joraanstad said he is proud of this proect. “This app can literally save someone’s life. We take great pride in that,” said Joraanstad.

Cecily Fong, spokeswoman for North Dakota Emergency Services, said you could never be overly prepared in an emergency. “Any tools developed which arm people with information that will help keep them safe is of value,” said Fong.

Since the application first debuted in both the Apple (News - Alert) Store and the Android Market more than 15,000 users have downloaded the survival app.

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