There’s a certain feeling of freedom when your cell phone searches futilely for a signal on the drive to the cottage. You can’t help but treasure time spent in the increasingly rare places where it’s possible to truly escape the responsibilities of work and city life. But with remoteness, of course, comes the reality that your phone won’t help you out if you become lost, stranded, or injured.
That all changed when Apple released the iPhone 14 in September 2022. It, along with newer iPhone 15 models, features a satellite SOS function: if no cellular service or Wi-Fi networks are available, Emergency SOS automatically prompts the user with instructions to orient the phone with satellites and asks basic questions to relay key details of the situation, along with precise coordinates from the phone’s GPS, to a dispatch centre. This, in turn, summons the appropriate local rescue professionals. Apple’s Find My app also allows users to share their off-grid location with friends and family at home in non-emergencies (the receiver needs cell or Wi-Fi service).
Unlike existing satellite communicator devices such as Garmin inReach and SPOT, which are popular amongst back country enthusiasts and require subscription plans, Apple’s Emergency SOS feature is free for two years after the activation of the iPhone and comes pre-installed with a handy demo mode. What’s more, Apple’s new iOS 18 operating system, announced earlier this summer, enables two-way satellite text messaging. The service will be available in Canada this fall.
The technology was enough to convince contractor Maxime Lavoie to upgrade to an iPhone 14 for peace of mind at his remote cottage, 330 km north of his home in Baie-Comeau, Que. Though he never anticipated needing it, Lavoie became an Emergency SOS success story last September when he was pinned under his mechanical excavator while working at the lake. He triggered a satellite message and dispatchers summoned emergency rescuers. Within hours, Lavoie was transported to a hospital and treated for fractures in his leg and foot.
“There are many remote and rural areas across Canada where this type of service is critically needed,” says Robert Stewart, the immediate past president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials Canada. “For first responders, receiving essential information such as medical ID and location is important to ensure we send the right help, to the right place, at the right time.”
This story originally appeared in our Sept/Oct ’24 issue.
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