Bits of technology miraculously saving people’s lives is something we’ve heard of before. Back in 2014, a Nokia Lumia 520 took the brunt of a bullet in a police shootout and a Samsung Galaxy Mega device did the same during a civil altercation. Then in 2017, Siri was credited with helping save a man’s life after he was caught in an explosion and used Siri voice commands to alert authorities. Now, another recent advancement in Apple software appears to have saved the lives of a couple whose car fell 300 feet (91 meters) off a cliff.
According to a detailed report by the Washington Post, Chloe Fields and Christian Zelda’s Hyundai Elantra lost traction in the gravel on the side of the Angels Crest Freeway in California and crashed into a 300-foot-deep canyon. Fortunately, the couple were not seriously injured. While Zelda considered walking through the woods to get to safety, Fields brainstormed how to get outside help in an area without cell service.
However, after finding Field’s iPhone 14 just feet away from the accident, they learned that the smashed but still functional device had already detected they were in an accident and showed them the option to make an emergency call via satellite SOS services. After making this call, they were rescued by helicopter by the local emergency services within 30 minutes.
Sergeant John Gilbert, the coordinator of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s search and rescue team in Los Angeles County, noted that they have received SOS calls from iPhone emergency services several times before, but this is the first time they have had to start a search. -Rescue operation. The previous cases involved accidental activation and a car accident that did not require their help. Gilbert went on to say that:
When we have vehicles passing on the side, on that particular part of the road… we are usually dealing with death. [Apple’s technology is] Going to be a game changer. There are many cases where we are an hour to an hour and a half behind the original emergency before we are notified.
That’s what Apple says on its website The iPhone 14 and 14 Pro come with satellite-powered Emergency SOS service, which is free for two years after activation of either device. In addition, they also include automatic accident detection that calls emergency services on your behalf if the hardware detects that you have had a serious car accident or fall and is unresponsive.
Source and image credit: The Washington Post