If you are stranded in the Outback or any of the many places across regional and remote Australia without cellular coverage, Apple's Emergency SOS Satellite calling could be a lifesaver.
April 2023
Three university students trapped in freezing waters, in the canyons of the San Rafael recreation area, were rescued after using the SOS satellite feature to call for help. One of the students, Jeremy Mumford, explained: “The canyon was about 500ft deep with sheer rock walls, but about every 20 minutes a satellite would line up with where we were in the canyon and, by holding the phone up, we could get a signal where we could text 911 to Emery County.” Hypothermic shock had set in by the time a responding helicopter was able to winch the students to safety, likely saving their lives.
August 2023
Five members of a family were trapped in a van during the Maui wildfires. According to Michael J. Miraflor's post on X the wildfires "abruptly ignited in their vicinity." Fortunately, one individual among the van's occupants had an iPhone 14. "No cell service, so Apple Emergency SOS was the only way they could get in contact with first responders. It literally saved their lives," he wrote.
July 2023
Juana Reyes fell when a trail collapsed beneath her in the Los Angeles National Forest resulting in a broken ankle. "All I can remember was yelling, 'My foot,' and trying to get up, but I couldn't. The pain was just so unbearable." The group Reyes was with decided to call for help, only to realise their cell phones were out of range. Thankfully one hiker had an iPhone 14 and was able to activate the SOS via Satellite function and a helicopter was sent to the rescue. "It was definitely a lifesaver and worth every investment. It was my saving grace," said Reyes pictured below with the phone and her rescuers.
August 2023
A 38-year-old woman was hiking in the Mary Jane Canyon with her dog when flash flooding occurred. The woman tried to reach higher ground, however, she and her dog were swept about 150-200ft (50 metres) down the canyon gorge by raging waters before reaching a sand bank. Stranded on the bank the woman quickly activated her iPhone’s Emergency SOS feature, which was received as a GPS location but without details about her emergency situation.
Rescuers deployed a search team on foot and a helicopter to scan the canyon. The helicopter crew spotted the woman’s dog about two miles downstream from the coordinates sent by the SOS message. Although unable to land in the treacherous canyon terrain, they were able to guide rescuers on the ground. When found, the woman was covered head to toe in mud and missing her shoes. She told rescuers she believed her SOS text had failed to send, so she began making her way out of the canyon on her own.
2023
Two women returning from a trip to Alberta in Canada were rescued after taking an ill-fated detour due to a highway closure. Checking Google Maps for an alternate route they had decided to take a Forest Service Road but after driving 20km, the women hit a dead end, and then got stuck in thick snow. Activating the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature on their iPhone 14 sent the GPS location to the Robson Valley Search and Rescue unit.
“They found them, pulled their vehicle out and got them turned around and back on their way. It’s kind of thing that it potentially may have saved their life," said Dwight Yochim, Senior Manager, BC Search and Rescue. “If they hadn’t had the Apple iPhone 14 handy, what would have happened is eventually the family or their work would have said 'hey, they didn’t show up' and so the search area would have been from wherever they were last seen, to where they were supposed to be, and that could have been several hundred kilometres."
Emergency SOS via satellite is available from Apple on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 series phones, and is free for two years from activation of the device.
Satellite networks are also known as Non-Terrestrial Networks or NTN.
NTN use satellites to enable 2-way interaction over mountains, deserts, or in the middle of the ocean, to eliminate communication blind spots.
With a terrestrial ground-based network, your mobile phone connects to the closest cell tower using radio waves. There are many reasons why this connection could be disrupted, but in remote and regional Australia, the most common cause is distance from the nearest tower combined with natural barriers, like geography and vegetation.
With an NTN, when a user initiates a call or SMS their device communicates with satellites overhead. These satellites relay the signals to ground stations and then in turn to terrestrial cell towers for connection with the intended recipient.
The NTN bypasses the terrestrial network barriers of geography and distance from a tower. So long as the user has a 90 degree clear view of the sky, connection with a satellite passing overhead is possible.
MobileCorp is a leading Australian MSP providing cellular connectivity solutions for your people, places and things.
For regional and remote cellular connections we can offer a choice of
We have connected a range of locations in regional and remote Australia that have poor mobile reception. These include correctional facilities, defence force sites, national parks venues, and construction sites.
We also provide In-Building cellular coverage solutions for both urban and regional business sites.
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