The devices we use every day, whether smartphones, smartwatches or otherwise, can increasingly be first aid. Apple Watch has been credited so many times for helping with emergency canaries, but other smartwatches have answered the call for help too. Now a snowboarder has said that without his iPhone’s SOS service, he probably wouldn’t be alive.
After falling into a crevasse, the chances weren’t many. He could have been lost forever in the middle of a glacier.
Snowboarder fell into a crevasse and used the iPhone’s SOS system
A snowboarder says his iPhone saved his life. Specifically, the Emergency SOS function, as it allowed emergency services to be contacted after falling into a crevasse.
Snowboarder Keen and his personal trainer Tim Blakey were snowboarding on a glacier near Zermatt, Switzerland in March. In a descent, the sportsman had problems. On a complicated trail of about 3 km, he fell into a hidden crevasse in the snow.
His fall was stopped five meters away by a fragile snow bridge, limiting his movements and actions in an attempt to escape the difficult situation. While checking his iPhone for help, he found the battery level was only 3%, giving him limited options for getting help, reports 7 News.
Faced with low power consumption and forced to think of solutions, he remembered that he could call emergency services on the iPhone using the Emergency SOS feature, which can also send SMS from iPhone location to emergency contacts, as well as for SOS services.
Rescuers quickly arrived and pulled Blakey out of the crack, before taking him to hospital to treat his injured ankle. Recounting the event on Instagram, the snowboarder thanks the rescue team, offering “still no ideas” on how he can reimburse them.
Maybe the first step is to make people aware of the amazing work these guys do on the mountain and make people aware not to be as careless as I was.
Said Tim Blakey already at home.
Sportsman Blakey also made a point of thanking Apple for the feature of having “a side button that calls emergency services in 5 clicks”, which is “particularly useful when your screen is constantly wet”.
He also thanked his operator for offering him a 3G connection and a range of 3% at 5 meters under the ice.
How does SOS work?
When you make an SOS call, iPhone automatically calls the local emergency number. You can also add emergency contacts. When an emergency call ends, iPhone sends a text message to your emergency contacts to notify them, unless you unsubscribe.
iPhone sends your current location, and for a period of time after SOS mode is activated, your emergency contacts receive updates whenever your location changes.