April 17, 2026

The Rescue Card Platform Is Here

Punch Rescue announces the commercial availability of its unified emergency communication system — built for real conditions, not ideal ones.

The Rescue Card system is now commercially available. Punch Rescue offers this unified emergency communication infrastructure for K-12 schools, healthcare facilities, and corporate campuses. It combines wearable panic button hardware, a dedicated LoRa mesh network, and a live software dashboard that works whether or not the building’s internet connection is active.

This is a significant milestone for us, and we think it will matter to the organizations we serve.

What Is the Rescue Card System, and What Does It Include?

The Rescue Card system combines three core components that all operate on a patent-pending dedicated LoRa mesh network, independent of Wi-Fi and cellular infrastructure.

Rescue Cards function as a wearable panic button with no phone, app, or network required. One press triggers an immediate alert.
Rescue Repeaters plug into standard outlets and maintain consistent signal strength throughout a facility. They have internal battery backup that activates automatically when building power is lost.
The software dashboard provides 24/7 visibility into every device’s health, battery level, and connectivity status.

Staff can test any device with the push of a button and receive immediate confirmation. During an active incident, the dashboard delivers room-level location tracking on a dynamic indoor map.

The Rescue Card system also launches with three integration partners. RapidSOS connects activated panic button alerts directly to 911 and public safety agencies. It transmits real-time incident data the moment a Rescue Card is pressed. Mappedin provides dynamic indoor facility maps embedded within the dashboard, giving responders accurate room-level location data. Lightspeed Notify handles emergency communication coordination, automated response plan distribution, and mass notifications.

The system is available now, and Punch Rescue offers pilot programs for organizations that want to evaluate it before full deployment.

For the full announcement, read the official press release here.

Panic buttons with reliable emergency infrastructure.

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How We Started

In 2017, a young lifeguard at a YMCA of Charlotte branch suffered a seizure while opening the pool alone. She fell into the water and drowned before anyone knew she needed help.

We heard the full story later that year at a conference in Seattle. Our emergency communication platform, PunchAlert, was already deployed at that YMCA, but it couldn’t help. She couldn’t unlock a phone, open an app, or call for assistance.

That tragedy exposed the fundamental constraint: when people need help most, they often can’t use the tools we’ve given them. We spent two days in Seattle with aquatics directors and risk managers, determined to solve what software alone couldn’t. The answer wasn’t another app, it was infrastructure designed for the worst-case scenarios.

Punch Rescue was born from that commitment: wearable devices that work when nothing else can, connected to infrastructure that doesn’t rely on the person in crisis to operate it. From aquatics to K-12 schools and beyond, we’ve remained focused on one principle: protecting the people who matter most, especially when they can’t protect themselves.