USNGapp.org

 

At the request of the U.S. National Grid user community, in 2011, SharedGeo developed a simple app which shows a user’s location on the federal geolocation standard for emergency response – U.S. National Grid (USNG). Through this effort, the American public gained access to a free, lightweight, agnostic app which can be used to provide an emergency location whenever a street address is not available.

This app is actually a webpage which after being opened the first time in a connected environment no longer requires an internet connection to show USNG location as sensed by the mobile’s GPS chip.  To learn more, click this link to download the informational brochure.

You can get on “the grid” right now by clicking this link, or by simply typing in usngapp.org into the URL browser bar of any mobile.  Provided you allow access to location services and have a reasonable line of sight to the GPS satellites (not in a safe in the basement of a bank), you should be good to go!

IMPORTANT – Although there are reported instances of this app saving lives, before using it in an emergency make sure your local 9-1-1 call center and Emergency Services Sector know how to use this coordinate system.  Regrettably, as related elsewhere on this website, USNG adoption across the U.S. is spotty and currently limited to those communities willing to embrace advancements in technology and national standards.