Existing Software and Logistics Research

Existing Software:

From G2.com

• Rapid Reach:

Can send alerts regarding emergencies from user to a group of recipients. Aimed at businesses and limited to 50,000 recipients.

• Evenbridge:

Essentially same as above

All software that I found here works via servers that send a message from users to a set list of recipients.

From Play Store

• Alertable: Alerts based on weather emergencies. Limited to weather and only works in Canada.

• Emergency Alert:

Takes info from open news apps. Notifications are triggered by detecting emergencies in other news based applications. Only works with apps that are open at the same time.

Logistics:

Open-Source Software:

• Kuzzle

Free backend for web and mobile development. Provides geofencing- Useful for location-tailored alerts

• Tile 38

Geofencing, automated event and notification software.

User accounts, UI:

Users could have an account and post alerts to a specific geofenced area. This could work well for isolated local areas where an event takes place that only applies to a small demographic.
I.E  an event takes place in a rural area eg. a tree falls on a road and a user can post an alert to a specific geofence to alert community members.

This kind of service could easily be marketed towards isolated and ageing demographics.

To make this to work, a a simple UI style with large icons would be a good option, as it is usable by everyone. (toptal.com, uxplanet.com, smashingmagazine.com)