The women became stranded while traveling to Alberta and had to use an alternative route through the Holmes Forest Service Road after a highway closure. The road was partially plowed, but they made it to the end of the cleared area.
“There’s no cell service there but one of them happened to have the new Apple phone that has the SOS in it and activated the SOS and to my knowledge, that’s the first use of the SOS in British Columbia,” said Dwight Yochim, senior manager with BC Search and Rescue in a statement.
According to Yochim, the women were stranded approximately 12 miles down the road in the snow without knowing their location or having cell service. With the help of the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature, the team was able to quickly form a strategy and determine that the women may have gone. Without one of the women sending a signal via her iPhone 14, it could have taken over a week to find the women.
You can see the location of the rescue operation on the map above. According to the rescue team, it was “a wall of snow,” and the two women tried to go through it. Fortunately, the rescue team found them, pulled their vehicle out, and potentially saved their lives.
The Emergency SOS via Satellite feature is currently live in Canada and the US, and you can find everything you need to know about it by checking out our piece on the subject. Meanwhile, be careful on your winter trips and stay safe.
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