Dictionary
distress' call"
1. a prearranged communication code sign indicating that the sender is in a situation of peril, distress, or the like, as SOS, Mayday, etc. Cf.
distress signal (def. 1).
2. a communication prompted by or indicating distress:
The hospital sent out distress calls for all available stocks of the antitoxin. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.