Your iPhone is much more than a device for checking email, booking an Uber, consuming content or posting your favourite photos on social media.
Emergency SOS via Satellite is a game-changer, and builds on existing features vital to iPhone users, including Medical ID, emergency contacts, and Find My location sharing, offering the ability to connect to a satellite for sharing critical information with emergency services, family, and friends.
Did you know that only 30% of Canada has access to mass cellular coverage? This makes Emergency SOS via Satellite a very important feature, as it detects crashes and falls, then contacts Emergency Services to dispatch help right away. Even without Wi-Fi or cellular coverage, you can connect your iPhone to a satellite to text emergency services and share your location with both friends and family.
Just last week, Comox Valley Search and Rescue and RCMP responded to a distress call from an injured man’s iPhone. The man was stuck on a slippery ledge above Century Sam Lake, an isolated area of Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island, B.C.
As a result of his injury, the man was not able to move from his location. He was only lightly dressed and aside from his iPhone, did not have much survival equipment with him.
Emergency responders on foot quickly located him, and with a rope system attached to a stretcher, safely moved him off the ledge. He was then carried about 200 metres to a waiting helicopter that took him to meet two ambulances, where paramedics provided emergency medical care, and he was then transported to hospital.
Emergency SOS via Satellite allows Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) — or emergency services call centres — to connect to even more users in emergency situations, without any additional software or protocols required to enable communications.
Users are connected directly to emergency services equipped to receive text messages, or to relay centres with Apple-trained emergency specialists who are ready to contact PSAPs that cannot receive text messages on the user’s behalf.
Available on all iPhone 14 and 15 models in 16 countries and regions, Emergency SOS via satellite, currently a free safety service, enables users to message with emergency services while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
Added Safety Capabilities to Help During an Emergency
– Find My app shares a location via satellite to reassure friends and family of your whereabouts while traveling off the grid.
– Crash Detection detects a severe car crash and automatically dials emergency services if a user is unconscious or unable to reach their iPhone.
– Check In allows users to automatically notify friends and family when they have safely arrived at their destination (available on iOS 17 or later).
– Medical ID (in the Health app) helps first responders access critical medical information from the Lock Screen without a passcode.
Visit Apple online for more info.
