Distress call

A distress call is any type of signal which requests assistance. These calls are usually sent by an individual or a group of people that encounter a problem that they can't deal with on their own. The purpose of the signal is to summon the help of people who can.

In the 23rd and 24th centuries, starships, starbases, and outposts were equipped to be able to send distress calls across space and subspace to any source that could receive the messages.