Emergency Response
Handle critical events that require immediate user attention and action.
When to Invoke
Use this skill when you detect:
- •🚨 Safety issues - Anything affecting user's physical safety
- •👨👩👧 Family emergencies - Messages from family marked urgent/emergency
- •✈️ Travel disruptions - Flight delays, cancellations, gate changes
- •🏥 Health alerts - Medical appointments, prescription reminders (if urgent)
- •💻 System failures - Critical system down, data loss, security breach
- •📱 Time-critical messages - "Call me NOW", "Emergency", "ASAP"
- •⏰ Missed critical deadlines - Something due in <15 minutes
NOT emergencies:
- •Regular work tasks (even if high priority)
- •Standard meeting reminders
- •Normal email/messages
- •Routine notifications
Workflow
1. Assess the Situation
Determine urgency:
- •Life/safety issue → CRITICAL
- •Financial/legal deadline → CRITICAL
- •Travel disruption → HIGH
- •Work emergency → HIGH
- •Ambiguous → Ask yourself: "Does user need to know THIS MINUTE?"
Gather context:
- •What happened?
- •When did it happen / when does user need to act?
- •What information does user need to make a decision?
- •What are the immediate options/actions?
2. Check Preferences
Read Preferences/Preferences.md:
- •Emergency contacts? (family members who can call through)
- •DND override rules? (what breaks through Do Not Disturb)
- •Travel preferences? (auto-rebook flights? call airline?)
- •Decision authority? (what can you handle vs user must decide)
3. Build Emergency Notification
Structure:
1. Alert Line (Clear, direct)
🚨 URGENT: [What happened in 5-8 words]
2. Critical Info (What user needs to know NOW)
- What: [The event] - When: [Time/deadline] - Impact: [Why this matters]
3. Immediate Options (2-3 actionable choices)
Options: 1. [Action A] - [Consequence] 2. [Action B] - [Consequence] 3. [Action C] - [Consequence]
4. What You've Done (Actions you've already taken)
✓ Already done: - [Action 1] - [Action 2]
5. Follow-Up (What happens next)
I'll [automatic follow-up action]
4. Send Critical Notification
Use send_notification():
- •Priority: critical (🚨 - overrides Do Not Disturb)
- •Format: MarkdownV2 or plain text for readability
- •Length: Concise but complete (under 200 words)
- •Tone: Calm, clear, action-oriented (NO panic)
Example:
🚨 URGENT: Flight UA123 delayed 3 hours What: • Your 6:45 AM flight to NYC now departs at 9:45 AM • You'll miss your 10:30 AM meeting Impact: • Client presentation will need to reschedule • Hotel check-in still okay (3 PM) Options: 1. Take delayed flight → Reschedule client to afternoon 2. Book earlier flight ($200 change fee) → Make morning meeting 3. Cancel trip → Full refund, reschedule everything ✓ Already done: • Found alternative UA flight at 7:30 AM (2 seats left) • Draft email to client explaining situation What do you want to do? I can book/email once you decide. I'll check status again in 30 minutes.
5. Schedule Automatic Follow-Up
Use /schedule-followup or schedule_pulse():
- •When: 15-30 minutes for critical, 1-2 hours for urgent
- •What: Check if user responded, update situation, offer help
- •Priority: high
Example:
schedule_pulse( scheduled_at="in 30 minutes", prompt="Follow up on flight delay emergency - check if user made decision", priority="high" )
6. Log Emergency
Append to Diary/YYYY-MM-DD.md:
[HH:MM] 🚨 EMERGENCY: [Brief description] Context: [What happened] Notification sent: [What user was told] Options provided: [What choices given] Follow-up scheduled: [When checking back] Status: [Waiting for user response]
Response Patterns
Flight Delay/Cancellation
🚨 URGENT: Flight [number] [status] • Original: [time] → New: [time] or Cancelled • Impact: [what meetings/plans affected] Options: 1. Alternative flights: [list with times] 2. Refund + reschedule trip 3. Wait it out if minor delay ✓ Checked: [other flights, hotel policy, etc.] Need help booking or rescheduling?
Family Emergency Message
🚨 URGENT: Message from [family member] • Received: [X minutes ago] • They said: "[quote key part]" • Marked as: [Emergency/Urgent] Immediate action: Call them at [number] NOW ✓ Already done: • Cleared your next 30 minutes on calendar • Located their contact info I'll hold all non-critical notifications.
System Failure
🚨 CRITICAL: [System] is down • What: [service/system name] • Impact: [who/what affected] • Since: [how long] Immediate: [Specific action needed from user] ✓ Status: • [What you've checked] • [Current state] I'm monitoring and will update every [interval].
Deadline Crisis
🚨 URGENT: [Task] due in [time] • Deadline: [exact time] • Status: [current state] • Gap: [what's missing] Options: 1. Rush completion - [what's needed, how long] 2. Request extension - [who to contact] 3. Submit partial - [what's ready] I can [help action - draft email, gather materials, etc.] What's the call?
Guidelines
DO:
- •✅ Be calm and clear (user may be stressed)
- •✅ Provide specific options (not just "what do you want?")
- •✅ Show what you've already handled
- •✅ Set up automatic follow-up
- •✅ Clear user's immediate calendar if needed
DON'T:
- •❌ Panic or use excessive caps/exclamation marks
- •❌ Provide too many options (max 3)
- •❌ Give vague information
- •❌ Forget to follow up
- •❌ Cry wolf (only use for real emergencies)
Tone calibration:
- •Life/safety: Direct, calm, supportive
- •Travel: Helpful, solution-focused
- •Work: Professional, clear options
- •Family: Empathetic, action-oriented
Edge Cases
False alarm (thought it was emergency, wasn't):
- •Send quick correction: "Update: False alarm on [X]. All clear!"
- •Log it to learn patterns
- •Don't apologize excessively
User doesn't respond (after 30 min):
- •Send one follow-up: "Still need a decision on [X]"
- •If truly critical and no response after 1 hour, escalate per Preferences/
- •Log the situation
Multiple emergencies at once:
- •Send ONE notification with all items
- •Prioritize by urgency (safety first)
- •Number them clearly
User on vacation/OOO:
- •Check Preferences/ for OOO protocols
- •Still notify if truly critical
- •Handle more autonomously if user granted authority
The goal is for the user to: ✅ Immediately understand what happened ✅ Know their options clearly ✅ Feel supported (you've done groundwork) ✅ Be able to decide and act quickly