Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite feature for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro came to the rescue for a couple in California on Tuesday.
The Montrose Search and Rescue Team took to Twitter to share the story. According to the account, a couple was driving on the Angeles Forest Highway when their car went off the mountain, falling approximately three hundred feet into the canyon below.
The couple, incredibly, was able to get out of the car but found that there was no cellular signal in the canyon. Thankfully, one of them had an iPhone 14 model and was able to use the Emergency SOS via satellite feature to contact emergency services.
The emergency feature was able to communicate the exact latitude and longitude for the team to find the victims. According to the report, "Air Rescue 5 was able to locate the victims and insert a paramedic. The paramedic learned the patients, a male and female in their 20s, had mild to moderate injuries. The helicopter was able to hoist the victims out of the canyon and transport them to a local area hospital."
You can watch a video of the rescue below:
Deputies, Fire Notified of Vehicle Over the Side Via iPhone Emergency Satellite ServiceThis afternoon at approximately 1:55 PM, @CVLASD received a call from the Apple emergency satellite service. The informant and another victim had been involved in a single vehicle accident pic.twitter.com/tFWGMU5h3VDecember 14, 2022
Emergency SOS via satellite launched in November
Emergency SOS via satellite is a new feature that is exclusive to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models. The feature, which launched in the United States and Canada back in November, will be available to iPhone 14 owners for free for the first two years.
Emergency SOS via satellite "combines custom components deeply integrated with software to allow antennas to connect directly to a satellite, enabling messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage."
The feature also just launched this week in France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It is currently unknown which other countries Apple plans to launch the service.
