Patent ID: 8489062

Claim:
A wireless communications device for communicating an emergency message to a public safety answering point (PSAP), said wireless communications device comprising: a memory storing (i) data representative of a plurality of emergency messages being of different message types and (ii) a network address associated with each respective emergency message; an input/output (I/O) unit configured to wirelessly communicate with a communications network; a processing unit in communication with said memory and I/O unit; an electronic display in communication with said processing unit; at least one illumination device in communication with said processing unit; an abbreviated startup sequence module in communication with said memory, I/O unit, and processing unit; and a user interface in communication with said processing unit, and configured to cause said processing unit to: in response to a user selecting one of the emergency messages: reduce illumination of the electronic display and the at least one illumination device; and establish the selected emergency message and associated network address as defaults for communication of the default emergency message to the PSAP over the communications network; and in response to the user requesting to send an emergency message: generate the default emergency message by using the default network address as an address to which to communicate the emergency message; communicate the default emergency message via said I/O unit over the communications network to the default network address for routing the default emergency message to a PSAP local to the user, wherein when the user requests to send the emergency message while the wireless communication device is turned off, the abbreviated startup sequence module turns on the memory, I/O unit, and processing unit, so as to generate the default emergency message and communicate the default emergency message via said I/O unit over the communications network to the default network, without turning on full functionalities of the wireless communication device; illuminate one or more of the at least one illumination device on the wireless communication device to notify the user that the emergency message was sent; and display at least one of a white text against a black background or a white graphic against a black background on the electronic display to notify the user that the emergency message was sent.