Man Stranded in Alaska Rescued After Using iPhone's Emergency SOS Satellite Feature - PCMag

A stranded antheral successful Alaska was rescued aft utilizing Apple’s caller Emergency SOS outer diagnostic to interaction exigency services.

According to Alaska State Troopers(Opens successful a caller window) connected Dec. 1, astatine 2:00 americium (AST), rescue services were notified that an big antheral traveling via snowmachine from the distant municipality of Noorvik to Kotzebue had activated an Emergency SOS via outer connected his iPhone aft becoming stranded. The country did not person Wi-Fi oregon cellular coverage.

The Apple Emergency Response Center provided Troopers and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator with the GPS coordinates of the stranded man, and 4 unpaid searchers located and transported him to Kotzebue. No injuries were reported, according to Troopers. 

A spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Public Safety told(Opens successful a caller window) Insider that hunt and rescue teams were dispatched astatine 3:30 americium and the stranded antheral was taken to Kotzebue astatine 6 am. According to Insider, the antheral did not person different signifier of outer connection and was wearing “appropriate clothing” and had “fire-starting supplies.”

In a nationalist statement, Troopers who saved the antheral said they “were thoroughly impressed with the accuracy and completeness of accusation included successful the archetypal alert.”

The quality comes conscionable weeks aft Apple announced(Opens successful a caller window) the motorboat of the Emergency SOS outer diagnostic for iPhone 14 users successful the US (except Guam oregon American Samoa) and Canada. The information work allows users to connection exigency services extracurricular of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.

The diagnostic besides enables iPhone 14 owners to stock their determination via outer with friends and household utilizing the Find My app. Owners of each exemplary successful the iPhone 14 lineup tin usage the feature. It’s owed to rotation retired to definite European markets including the UK, Germany, France, and Ireland sometime this month.

The outer transportation tin beryllium maintained adjacent if your telephone surface is locked but it mightiness endure erstwhile astir hills, mountains, canyons, and gangly structures oregon adjacent erstwhile astir dense foliage. Apple notes(Opens successful a caller window) that a connection sent utilizing the outer diagnostic tin instrumentality 15 seconds to nonstop successful perfect conditions with a nonstop presumption of the sky, and implicit a infinitesimal to nonstop nether trees with airy oregon mean foliage.

Latitude tin besides impact the connection. Apple has said that being successful places supra 62 degrees latitude tin marque it harder for the diagnostic to work. This tin beryllium taken with a atom of brackish nevertheless arsenic Noorvik and Kotzebue are adjacent to 69 degrees latitude.

Apple has said that Emergency SOS is escaped for 2 years aft the activation of iPhone 14 oregon iPhone 14 Pro but has not stated whether determination are plans to bring successful charges going forward. 

You tin trial the Satellite diagnostic without alerting rescue services done the settings paper connected your iPhone 14.