If you’ve listened to our Ready Radio podcast, you probably know that nearly every episode features an iPhone app that relates to preparedness.

You might think this is just silly stuff — after all, an app can’t really save your life in a disaster…or can it?

Meet Dan Woolley, an American who used a medical app to treat a leg injury after the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince collapsed around him.

According to this story, Woolley used the light from his iPhone to show him his injuries and diagnosed it properly as a broken foot. Then, he used the instructions from the app to treat the excessive bleeding from cuts on his legs and the back of his head.

Woolley also used his camera to take pictures of the surrounding rubble to piece together a way out. He eventually took refuge in an elevator shaft until rescue crews found him 65 hours after the earthquake.

So before you go thinking that the apps we recommend are just fluff, take a moment to download a few, just in case. Get some recommendations here, here and here. This might be prepare-aphernalia you literally can’t live without.

P.S. Buy apps, help Haiti. Get ’em at http://www.indierelief.com/ today and your money goes to disaster relief efforts. Cool!