All iPhone 14 models have Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite and Crash Detection feature, and it is these two additions that ended up saving a man’s life after his car fell nearly 400 feet in the canyon of the Mt. Wilson area. Emergency SOS via Satellite can alert the authorities when a phone’s reception level is zero, and if it was a previous iPhone model, the rescue team would have its work cut out significantly.
Authorities say the iPhone 14 owner is lucky to have the Emergency SOS via Satellite and Crash Detection features, otherwise, the crash area has no cellphone reception to call for help
With the car falling almost 400 feet, it triggered the Crash Detection feature first, with the Emergency SOS via Satellite alerting the deputies with the Crescenta Valley Station of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department through a text message. The authorities received the alert from an iPhone at around 10:30 PM, informing them of a car crash on Mt. Wilson Road.
Since the area of the car crash did not have Wi-Fi or cellular reception, sending a text message to the authorities was the only available communication medium available at the time. Fortunately, the details of the message provided accurate location information, allowing the local search and rescue team to locate the car and the individual. Mike Leum, one of the members of Montrose Search and Rescue, says that the man was bleeding heavily and his car was totaled.
RESCUE: At 10:51pm on Fri we were alerted to a car 400’ over a cliff by the driver’s iPhone 14 crash detection. Location was Mt Wilson Rd. After locating him we guided in an @LACoFireAirOps copter. Suffered head trauma. @LASDHQ @CVLASD @KCBSKCALDesk @NBCLA @ABC7 @FOXLA @cnnbrk pic.twitter.com/jXdpuDL7Hk
— Mike Leum (@Resqman) July 22, 2023
Leum also states that if the team had not received the accurate location information, the iPhone 14 owner might not have survived. Steve Goldsworthy, the Rescue Operations Leader of Montrose Search, said that falling 400 feet into a canyon meant that it would have taken them a significantly long period to find the man, but thanks to the iPhone 14’s accurate location details, they were able to find him with little effort.
“He was 400 feet down in a canyon with virtually no way out. So, who knows when, or if, we would've located him. The location that we got from the iPhone activation was spot on. It was basically his phone on its own, calling for help on his behalf.”
There have been instances where the iPhone 14’s Crash Detection feature was less helpful, such as getting falsely triggered as a music festival, but on this occasion, it practically saved a person’s life. By default, the feature is activated for all iPhone 14 models sold in the U.S., but users can go to the ‘Settings’ menu and turn it off if they feel that they are in a spot where Crash Detection would be triggered by mistake.
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