When someone replies that they're not safe, a distress case opens automatically, asks where they are and how they need help, sets a priority, and lets an operator respond by text or escalate to a call.
When a Distress Case Opens
The moment someone replies NO to an "Are you safe?" alert — or texts the number to say they're not safe — a distress case opens automatically. It turns a worrying reply into something you can actually work: a single, traceable thread for that one person, sitting in the Distress view ready for an operator.
Automatic Triage
Before an operator even picks it up, whoot. starts gathering the essentials by text so no time is lost:
It asks where they are — building, floor or nearest landmark.
It asks how they need help — injured, trapped, medical, unsafe.
It reads their answers, sets a priority from the words they use, and confirms the team can see their messages.
Auto-triage can be switched off for your organisation if you'd rather operators lead every conversation by hand. With it on, the location and need are usually captured before anyone is free to respond.
Priority
Immediate — Life-threatening wording (trapped, injured, fire, weapon and the like) pushes the case to the top.
Urgent — Needs help, but not flagged life-threatening.
Standby — Logged and watched.
Unknown — Not yet triaged.
Responding
Acknowledge — Mark that the case is seen.
Claim — Take ownership so the team knows it's yours.
Reply — Text the person directly, one to one, from the case.
Set priority — Override the automatic priority if you know better.
Resolve — Close the case once they're safe or handed off.
Call — Escalate straight to a phone call.
Escalating to a Call
When texting isn't enough, Call dials the person from the room's own number — so the caller ID is one they'll recognise — and drops you into a voice channel with them. The call is recorded and transcribed like any other, so it lands in the incident record automatically.
Safety Reversal & Reopening
Safety reversal — If someone said they were safe and then says they're not, the case is flagged so that swing from safe to unsafe is impossible to miss.
Reopen on reply — If a resolved case gets another message from that person, it reopens itself and re-alerts the whole team — because a closed case is no reason to stop listening.
Distress is life-safety, so the dashboard doesn't trust the live connection alone — it also refreshes on a short timer and re-alerts every operator when a case reopens. Nothing waits on a single notification getting through.