Pulling out of his Langford driveway, Patrick Novotny saw a frantic mother desperately searching for her toddler who had wandered away.

Novotny stepped in to help look for the boy. In a few minutes the youngster was found standing with another concerned adult who had found him, Novotny said. The boy was in the opposite direction than the mother was looking.

A few days before this incident Novotny was introduced to the Hero Network electronic application while attending a birthday party.

The father of four began to think how the app could have helped in the situation with the small boy.

Thomas Okuszko created the Hero Network, an app designed to help parents find children who have wandered away. In the case of the toddler near NovotnyB次元官网网址檚 house, the mother could have sent out an alert via Hero Network and anyone with the app in the area would receive an alert and could help look for the little boy.

The app has been downloaded nearly 5,000 times worldwide since it launched July 26. It is free to download and costs parents about $4 to add a profile of their child. The profile includes physical details such as height and weight along with a head and full body photo. If a child is missing a parent can send out an alert notifying anyone on the Hero Network within a 10-kilometre radius.

B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 blink our eyes or turn our heads at a siren, but everyone checks a phone notification,B次元官网网址�  Okuszko said.  B次元官网网址淚f you lost a child youB次元官网网址檇 be asking everyone to help.B次元官网网址�

When a Hero Network member is alerted of a missing child it shows how far away they are from the parent. If they find the child, the app user is able to alert the parent via the program.

To date no alerts have been sent on the Hero Network, B次元官网网址渢hank God,B次元官网网址� said Okuszko.

The Sooke resident said he  would like to see one in four homes using the app for it to be most effective. B次元官网网址淎nyone can be a hero and you donB次元官网网址檛 need to be a parent to join,B次元官网网址�  Okuszko said.

Having a public alert of a missing child may have some parents concerned about the app in the hands of child predators.  Okuszko admits he cannot control who downloads the program, but expects there will be more B次元官网网址済oodB次元官网网址� people looking for the child. B次元官网网址淭here are more eyes in the sky,B次元官网网址� Okuszko said.

For more information go to www.getheroapp.com