We've all been there before: a date that is as painful as eating a bucket of nails. While some people are naturally insensitive and can point out that fact to a person's face, some of us struggle with devising a getaway plan or speech - enter the Bad Date Rescue app.

Brought to us almost ironically by dating site eHarmony, Bad Date Rescue offers those that don't have the heart to tell someone that they're duller than a lecture on dullness and uglier than a circus freak with bad luck, a way to get out of a date before it gets worse.

What the app does, is it lets the individual create rescue calls that appear to be being made by people like his mother, boss, or neighbour, when in fact it's just a recording - more on this shortly.

In order to do this, the user clicks the Edit Your Rescues icon on the front page of the app. If none have been created yet, this option will allow him to create a new one.

Beyond that point, he then chooses the name of the person that will call him, a photo (if applicable/available), the time that the fake call needs to come through at, and a script. The latter of which is the audio that the user will hear when said call is made to him, through the app. For instance, if he selects the Mom script, he will hear a lady's voice on the other end of the line talking about needing help to set up a DVD player.

However, when someone sets up a time for a rescue call, it won't automatically come at that given time - essentially, it won't act the same way an alarm function on a phone might. In order to activate the rescue call, the user must open the app and hit the Start Rescues button. After that button is hit, the screen will go black. It's not the same kind of black you'd see when you close it normally, but it's close enough. At this point, it's imperative to not exit the app.

I'd recommend setting all of this up during a perfectly timed bathroom break. If someone is fiddling around with his phone just ahead of a rescue call, it'll be extra easy for the person on the other side of the table to assume that something is awry.

Once the moment of truth arrives, the rescue call will come in (a specific ringtone can be selected for this). The user just simply has to answer the call and he'll be seconds away from bolting toward the exit.

For real, real bad dates and those that can flick through a phone very covertly, there are Quick Rescue options, which can initiate a call in five seconds, one minute, or five minutes. Again, one is able to personalize these calls any way he sees fit.

Now, it is possible that using the same rescue calls over and over again can become stale to the frequent-dater. Fortunately for him, other scripts (like "Your cat is puking!" and your "Sister is having a baby") can be purchased for $0.99 apiece.

While I am fortunately not in need of this app, I'm sure lots of people out there are and will certainly make the most out of it. I'd like to think that good ole fashion honesty and integrity can still be put to use when putting the kybosh on the date, but since we have entered into a world where technology likes to do just about anything and everything for us, I guess this app makes sense.

The Bad Date Rescue app is available for free for Apple devices with iOS 4.2 or higher. It is recommended that iPhone 4S users disable Siri while using this app, to prevent that little voice from ruining the whole plan.

Good luck out there you brave single ladies and gents - here's hoping that this tool helps guide you through the wicked wilderness of the dating scene.

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