A group of stranded hikers in British Columbia are crediting Apple's satellite SOS feature with allowing them to call for help. As reported by CBCHikers were stranded on a glacier after wildfires began closing in on them — and conditions were so bad that responders were about to abandon a rescue attempt.
The four hikers were stranded in the Macbeth Ice Fields, about 390 kilometres east of Kelowna. They were camping when winds picked up and wildfires approached.
“Embers were falling on their tent, so they ran for their lives. It was like a war zone,” said Mark Jennings Bates, Kaslo's search and rescue manager. “We were very lucky to be able to get there by helicopter, we almost had to abandon the rescue attempt.”
According to Jennings-Bates, the only way the four hikers could communicate was through Apple’s satellite SOS feature. They were able to use the feature to send text messages and share their location with first responders. Rescue teams had to navigate through “heavy smoke from an approaching wildfire” in a helicopter to locate the hikers.
“We were able to sneak across a ridge and find them right where the cell phone ringing was, which is really unusual and very satisfying,” he explained. “In this case, their cell phone literally saved their lives.”
Emergency SOS via satellite lets you send messages to emergency services when you're out of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. You can also use satellite connectivity to share your location with friends and family via Find My. Because it takes time to establish a satellite connection, your iPhone will ask you some preloaded questions while your device searches for a signal.
New features coming in iOS 18
iOS 18, which will be released to everyone this fall, brings additional improvements to Emergency SOS and satellite features. First, iOS 18 introduces Satellite Messaging. This feature will automatically prompt users to connect to the nearest satellite in the Messages app, allowing them to send and receive text messages, emoji, and Tapbacks via iMessage and SMS.
Separately, Emergency SOS Live Video is a new feature that lets users share live video and recorded media with emergency responders. “In the middle of an emergency call, participating emergency responders can send a request to the user to share live video or media from the user’s camera over a secure connection, making it easier and faster to get help,” Apple explains.
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