iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via satellite saves hiker with broken leg

iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via satellite saves hiker with broken leg

• News

Juana Reyes was very happy she’s not an Android user on Saturday.
Photo: Mike Leum/Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

A California hiker who broke her leg in the Angelos National Forest was able to get help thanks to the Emergency SOS via satellite service built into the iPhone 14 series.

The feature enables those range of cellular network coverage to call for rescue.

iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via satellite to the rescue! Again!

Large swaths of the United States are so remote they don’t have cellular service . That’s why Apple created Emergency SOS via satellite, which can summon assistance from on high.

And that’s just what Juana Reyes needed on Saturday, June 24. She was hiking with friends in Trail Canyon Falls near Sunland, California when the trail collapsed underneath her, breaking her leg, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

“We tried to get a hold of 911 but there was no service on our phones,” Reyes told the local news channel. “Thankfully, my phone has that SOS satellite feature that was able to connect.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue went to the scene then airlifted Reyes out, as she couldn’t walk.

Ankle injury hoisted by @LACoFireAirOps after we were notified via iPhone 14 911 sos satellite feature. pic.twitter.com/Z7e18VLgQs

— Mike Leum (@Resqman) June 24, 2023

More about Emergency SOS via satellite service in iPhone 14

All iPhone 14 models can use Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite service in countries in N. America, Europe and Down Under. It allows users of the latest iOS handsets to exchange messages to request help while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.

To learn more, read the Cult of Mac guide on how to contact emergency services via satellite with iPhone 14.

This isn’t the first time the feature has come to the rescue. It has been credited with speeding the rescues of people stranded deep in an Utah canyon, in the far reaches of Alaska and the Canadian wilderness.