The new Emergency SOS via Satellite feature present on the iPhone 14 series (check out our iPhone 14 review here) has once again proven its worth in helping people in dire situations when recently, three BYU college students found themselves stranded in a deep canyon in Utah after their hiking trip took an unexpected turn. As reported by AppleInsider, The students were hiking through a difficult rappel slot canyon called The Squeeze in Emery County when they reached a deep pool, which was harder to navigate than they had anticipated; one of the students ended up developing hypothermia symptoms after being stuck in the water for several hours.
The area where the students were stranded was about 500 feet deep of sheer rock walls, and they had no traditional cellular connectivity — even so, they were able to use the iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via Satellite to communicate with rescue officials by getting a satellite connection about once every 20 minutes to send text messages with updates. The students were able to share their location with emergency services, which enabled rescue teams to locate them. Search and rescue teams used a helicopter to lower a rescuer and hoist them to safety one by one. An Emery County Sheriff’s Office post on Facebook brought more details about the situation:
The Emergency SOS via Satellite feature allows messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage; once the iPhone is connected to a satellite, emergency services can be reached regardless of cellular and Wi-Fi connection. Satellite connectivity can also be used to share the location with friends and family via Find My, still, since it takes some time to establish a connection with the satellites, the iPhone will ask users a few preloaded questions while the device is searching for a signal. Check out how to use the feature in the video below:
Needless to say that the students praised the iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature and they’ve learned from their lesson, encouraging anyone planning a similar excursion to take a phone with satellite capabilities. The feature has already helped several iPhone users in critical situations, demonstrating its value as a potentially life-saving tool.
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