iPhone 14's emergency satellite feature helps save hiker with no cell service

(Image credit: Apple)

We've seen plenty of stories about Apple Watches helping to save lives in recent years, but now it's the turn of the iPhone 14.

According to reports a woman who fell and broke her leg while hiking in Tujunga, California, found that she was unable to call for help because she didn't have an active cellular connection. However, she was still able to summon assistance thanks to her iPhone's Emergency SOS via Satellite feature.

"We tried to get a hold of 911 but there was no service on our phones," the woman said in an interview. "Thankfully, my phone has that SOS satellite feature that was able to connect to... I'm assuming satellites."

Emergency SOS

That feature is of course Emergency SOS via satellite, one that uses low-orbit satellites to transmit data even when there is no traditional cellular connection available.

ABC7 reports that the woman is now recovering at home after being found thanks to her iPhone 14. In fact, it's said that this was local emergency services' third "iPhone rescue" of the year so far.

RESCUE! Her iPhone 14 notified us via the satellite 911 feature. Ankle injury in Trail Cyn, wasn’t able to hike out. LACO Fire did a hoist. @LASDHQ @LACoSheriffLuna @MontroseSAR @CVLASD @CbsLos @NBCLA @KTLAnewsdesk @ABC7 @FOXLA @LACoFireAirOps @LACOFD pic.twitter.com/WlfXiYgp4CJune 24, 2023

Emergency SOS via Satellite is available on all of Apple's current best iPhones, including the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro. It's only available in select countries however, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal.

We can also expect all of Apple's future iPhones to support the same feature, with the iPhone 15 lineup set to be announced later this year — likely in or around September.

This isn't the first time that Emergency SOS via Satellite has helped save someone, of course. A man stranded in Alaska used the feature in December 2022, for example. A couple was also rescued via helicopter in the same month.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.