Emergency app for Britons in France offers French-language medical help
LifeLine Europe helps English speakers call emergency services, share medical details in French and access offline safety tools while travelling
Published
A British man living in rural Mayenne has launched a mobile app designed to help English speakers contact emergency services in France and across Europe.
David Oldham, 61, from Salford, created LifeLine Europe after moving to northern France with his wife Helen in 2018.
“You can order a coffee in French and chat to your neighbour about the weather, but can you explain a suspected stroke to an emergency operator at midnight?” he said.
Mr Oldham, an author and construction consultant who has spent his career developing software for UK organisations, said the idea came after meeting English-speaking residents who did not know which emergency number to call.
“When people are panicking, remembering a foreign phone number and then speaking a foreign language to a call operator can make communication even more difficult,” he told The Connexion.
The app lets users call the correct emergency service with a single tap. It can also display GPS coordinates and medical information, including allergies and medications, in French to help paramedics.
A “Bystander Mode” allows anyone finding an unconscious person to access emergency medical information from the phone’s lock screen and then
call for help without unlocking the device.
Mr Oldham stressed the app is “not a medical service but a communication bridge”.
“It helps you reach and be understood by the people who can help you. For the hundreds of thousands of Britons living in or touring Europe, that can be the difference between a frightening evening and a tragedy.”
The app also includes more than 100 emergency phrases with phonetic spellings and audio recordings, plus an English-language guide to the European accident report form (constat amiable), breakdown assistance tools and pet travel information.
LifeLine Europe works in six languages across 11 European countries. Emergency features are free and work without an internet connection, while optional subscriptions unlock additional travel and safety tools.
