First reported use of Emergency SOS via Satellite saves snowmobiler in Alaska

 
INA – SOURCES
 
In what appears to be the first reported use of Emergency SOS via Satellite, a snowmobiler in Alaska was successfully rescued when he became stranded in an extremely isolated area.
 
Alaska State Troopers received an alert from the Apple Emergency Response Center in the early hours of the morning.
 
The State of Alaska Department of Public Safety provided a brief report saying, “On December 1, 2022, at around 2:00 am, the Alaska State Troopers were notified that an adult male traveling via snowmachine from Noorvik to Kotzebue had activated an Apple iPhone Emergency SOS via satellite on his iPhone after becoming stranded. Working with local search and rescue teams, the Apple Emergency Response Center, and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator, the NWAB SAR deployed four volunteer searchers to the Nimiuk Point area directly to the GPS coordinates provided by the Apple Emergency Response Center. The adult male was located and transported to Kotzebue by the volunteer search team. There were no injuries reported to Troopers.”
 
The report doesn’t state the issue that caused the man to become stranded. Mechanical failure and the snowmobile becoming stuck are two obvious possibilities. 
 
Apple activated the system in the US and Canada just a couple of weeks earlier, after first announcing it during the iPhone 14 keynote. The Emergency SOS via the Satellite system is automatically activated when you attempt to call 911 from any iPhone 14 model, and cellular service is not available. Apple provides a demo mode, which allows you to familiarize yourself with the feature so that you are prepared should you need to use it during an emergency.