iPhone apps that can help in an emergency

Need help splinting a broken bone? Finding a tow truck? Figuring out if your toddler's tummy ache is serious? Whatever the emergency, these apps can help.

Rick Broida Senior Editor

Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").

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Rick Broida

May 9, 2012 5:54 p.m. PT

Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. It might be a tornado that's bearing down on your location, a finger that gets burned on a hot stove, or even just a fender bender in a parking lot.

To paraphrase the Boy Scout motto: be prepared -- with apps!

The iTunes App Store is home to countless apps that can help you in an emergency. I've rounded up six to get you started. Most of them are free, so you've got nothing to lose -- and a lot to gain -- by finding a home for them on your iPhone.

Check out my list, then hit the comments if you've found other apps that can help save the day, and perhaps even save a life.