In a recent incident in Canada, Apple Emergency SOS enabled a satellite feature to successfully rescue two women trapped in the woods near McBride.
According to a report in the Times Colonist newspaper, the two women were returning from a trip to Alberta, Canada when they encountered a highway closure. After checking Google Maps for an alternate route, they decide to take a detour on the Holmes Forest Service Road.
Image Credits: Anuj Raghav
After about 20 kilometers on the trail, the women hit a dead end, and reportedly fell into deep snow without cellular reception or a way back. .
Luckily, one of the women had an iPhone 14 — which had an emergency SOS feature on the satellite — and reached out for help — activating the feature.
The RCMP and Robeson Valley Search and Rescue planned a rescue using GPS location to estimate where the women went along the strip road.
“They found them, got them out of their vehicle and got them back on the road,” said Dwight Yochim, senior manager of BC Search and Rescue. This is the kind of thing that can save their lives. “
What’s more, if they didn’t have an Apple 14 handset, eventually their family or work would say, ‘Hey, they didn’t show up,’ and the search would go from wherever they were to where they were last seen, and that could have been hundreds of miles away.
iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models can use Satellite OS to text emergency services when cellular and Wi-Fi coverage is lost. You can also get the Find My app to share your location with people via satellite.
Image credits: Tech Droider
How to do emergency SOS by satellite
Emergency SOS can help people connect to emergency services in situations where other emergency services cannot be reached via satellite. If someone calls or sends a text message to emergency services and can’t connect because they’re out of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage, iPhone will try to connect them via satellite with the help they need.
When using a satellite connection, the experience is different from sending or receiving text messages over cellular. It can take 15 seconds to send a message under ideal conditions with a view of the sky and horizon, and over a minute under trees with light or medium foliage. If a person is under heavy foliage or surrounded by other obstacles, they will not be able to connect to the satellite. Connection time may be affected by people’s location, message length, and satellite network conditions and availability.
Apple has made SOS by satellite free for two years after the launch of the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro.
