Covid-19 Update: Beacon has most recently been deployed in the US to support the delivery of essential goods to at-risk/vulnerable populations (elderly, housebound, disabled) through community-based resource delivery networks. In Minneapolis, MN, Beacon is supporting the work of Metro Meals on Wheels, and in Kitsa County, WA, Beacon is being used a by a consortium of government and nonprofit groups, led by Empact Northwest, to dispatch volunteers around the county to do the same. Beacon is a text message-based emergency dispatching platform designed specifically for communities where advanced "911" dispatching technologies are inappropriate or unaffordable. Beacon works by relaying requests for emergency assistance from the scene of an emergency via text message to nearby trained community responders, and then provides end-to-end resource coordination in order to ensure patients are located quickly, stabilized, and transported to appropriate facilities. With the new release of Beacon v4.0, emergency response groups are now able to design, test, and launch their own emergency communications systems on their own in less than 30 minutes, anywhere there’s a mobile phone signal, ultimately enabling more robust participation from local responders and volunteers during emergency events and in austere environments.