“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,” reads a post by the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
What is Emergency SOS by Satellite?
Essentially, the functionality allows a user to link directly with a satellite. Users will then be routed to emergency services capable of receiving text messages. When attempting to call emergency services such as 911, the iPhone recognizes that the user is outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage and launches a customized UI to help the user navigate the SOS emergency service.
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