iPhone's Find My Feature Helps Rescuers Locate Car Crash Victim

[MacRumors]

While the Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via Satellite features in the iPhone 14 have been making headlines for helping accident victims, simpler and more universal iPhone functions can also be helpful in deadly situations.

On Sunday night after a Christmas gathering, a woman was involved in a car crash in San Bernardino, California, falling 200 feet down a hill on the side of the road. Her iPhone did not notify emergency services, presumably because she did not have an iPhone 14. Her family, though, noticed that she did not make it home and was not responding, so they used the Find My feature to track down her location.

When they saw the car was in a location over the side of the highway on the map, they contacted emergency services to get her help. The story was relayed by the San Bernardino County Fire Department (via AppleInsider) in a Facebook post. As it turned out, the woman was severely injured and had spent the night in the vehicle after the crash.

Firefighter-paramedics used advanced life support interventions and a rope system to raise the woman and her rescuers from the hill and back up to the road, after which she was taken to a hospital.

The patient had likely been in her crashed vehicle overnight after leaving a family gathering. Family members became concerned after not speaking with her this morning and utilized Apple's "Find my iPhone" feature to track her whereabouts. Upon investigating the phone's location they found the vehicle over the side & called 911.

Unlike Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via Satellite, Find My is almost universally available on iPhones. In this situation, the woman was sharing her location with her family, which is what allowed them to locate her. Such a rescue would not have been possible if she had not enabled the Find My sharing features.

Apple's iPhone 14 lineup is better for getting help in a serious emergency as the Crash Detection feature is able to contact rescue services automatically in the event of a crash, and Emergency SOS via Satellite can be used in remote locations where no cellular or WiFi signal is available. Both features have made headlines in recent weeks, with Emergency SOS via Satellite responsible for the rescue of an Alaskan man who was stranded in the wilderness and Crash Detection able to help two victims who fell into a remote canyon.

Article Link: iPhone's Find My Feature Helps Rescuers Locate Car Crash Victim

 

[TechieGeek]

Her iPhone did not notify emergency services, presumably because she did not have an iPhone 14

That's presumptuous

 

[FreakinEurekan]

We used Find My (back when it was Find My Friends) to locate a friend who was overdue coming back from a hiking trip. It led rescuers straight to him, on the trail... sadly he'd had a massive coronary and died almost immediately, but it might have been days before anyone came cross his body without Find My.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Literally features like this are saving lives over here. Praying for a speedy recovery.

 

[bLackjackj]

The story was "relayed" via who? Lol,..what amazing timing, just after the negative publicity of false alarms.

Love your work Timothy 😏👌😉

 

[alexandr]

The story was "relayed" via who? Lol,..what amazing timing, just after the negative publicity of false alarms.

Love your work Timothy 😏👌😉

Oh yea, you're right — this story is hard to believe!..

 

[pdaholic]

I can believe the story. But I think most of us don’t share our location with others, including family, for privacy reasons. Not me. I love when my family knows when I leave the house to hit the liquor store, drive over to the race track and get blitzed outta my mind, then drop in at the local ho-ar house for a jolly good time. When I’m left strapped to the bed, they’ll know where to find me.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I can believe the story. But I think most of us don’t share our location with others, including family, for privacy reasons.

Find My is automatically set up if you're in a Family Sharing group, and it would require the user to go in and specifically turn that feature off. I'm sure there are people who do that, but most of us leave it at the default setting.

 

[citysnaps]

The story was "relayed" via who? Lol,..what amazing timing, just after the negative publicity of false alarms.

Love your work Timothy 😏👌😉

Another juvenile race to the bottom post by someone LOLing because it puts Apple in a good light, which apparently is upsetting and causing a bad day for them.

Relayed by the San Bernardino County Fire Dept.

 

[Villarrealadrian]

I guess though luck to the other iphones then?

 

[I7guy]

The various bits and pieces of tech that are in today's smartphones are providing a safety net to those in bad situations.

 

[fatTribble]

I can believe the story. But I think most of us don’t share our location with others, including family, for privacy reasons.

My friends and I all share our locations with one another. If I didn’t trust them we wouldn’t be friends.

 

[I7guy]

My friends and I all share our locations with one another. If I didn’t trust them we wouldn’t be friends.

My entire immediate family all share our locations with one another.

 

[julesme]

"Such a rescue would not have been possible if she had not enabled the ‌Find My‌ sharing features."

I think this is incorrect. A family member (i.e., spouse, significant other, etc) with access to the woman's iCloud account password could determine the phone's last known location.

 

[Kevin2055]

I can believe the story. But I think most of us don’t share our location with others, including family, for privacy reasons.

Why not?

 

[alex00100]

Jeez, there are what, 500 million active iPhones out there? Do we need a story like that for every time it is used to find someone's location?

 

[citysnaps]

Jeez, there are what, 500 million active iPhones out there? Do we need a story like that for every time it is used to find someone's location?

I'd love to hear every single one.

The good news is if a story isn't interesting to someone, or if putting Apple in a good light is somehow upsetting triggering a case of the shakes, simply scroll on by and read a different one.

 

[fatTribble]

Jeez, there are what, 500 million active iPhones out there? Do we need a story like that for every time it is used to find someone's location?

I get your point and don't disagree. But I will say these feel-good-stories-for-geeks are kind of a welcome change from the hotly debated threads.

 

[JosephAW]

After my GF texted me saying she was a car accident I immediately left my home and navigated to the "find my" location and I beat her parents there.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Why didn’t iPhone Crash Detection Pro detect the crash?

 

[citysnaps]

Why didn’t iPhone Crash Detection Pro detect the crash?

Read the story.

She didn't have an iPhone 14.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Read the story.

She didn't have an iPhone 14.

Then they should enable the feature on other iPhones. Can't believe they're trying to put a positive spin on this!

 

[citysnaps]

Then they should enable the feature on other iPhones. Can't believe they're trying to put a positive spin on this!

How can you enable hardware tech (satellite communications) that doesn't even exist on older phones?


"Can't believe they're trying to put a positive spin on this!"

Of course. That's always been true for people who constantly love to rag on Apple to feel better. Even when the older tech worked.

 

[Gengar]

I usually always share my location with at least one family member or friend when I'm traveling alone. It's always a good thing for at least one person to know where you are, or at least where you're supposed to be.

 

[citysnaps]

I usually always share my location with at least one family member or friend when I'm traveling alone. It's always a good thing for at least one person to know where you are, or at least where you're supposed to be.

Same here. Especially going somewhere that's remote or isolated. Joshua Tree National Park, for example, where people die every year from exposure and climbing accidents.