Six skiers trapped in an avalanche new Lake Tahoe were able to use the iPhone’s Emergency SOS via satellite feature to contact emergency personnel and get help, reports The New York Times. The allows iPhone users to communicate with emergency responders via text when a cellular or WiFi connection is not available.
The six survivors of Tuesday’s avalanche near Lake Tahoe communicated with emergency responders using the Emergency SOS feature on the iPhone and an emergency beacon, said Don O’Keefe, the law enforcement chief for California’s Office of Emergency Services.
The skiers were able to communicate with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office for several hours while rescue efforts were coordinated. “One of my personnel was communicating with one of the guides over a four-hour period, giving information back to the Nevada sheriff’s office and coordinating what rescues could be permitted,” said Don O’Keefe, law enforcement chief for California’s Office of Emergency Services.
The feature has been credited with saving the lives of several people, and Apple has even released a promotional video explaining how it saved a New South Wales man’s life when he was swept out to sea in Australia.
The feature requires an iPhone 14 or newer running iOS 18.4 or later, or an Apple Watch Ultra 3 running watchOS 26.0.1 or later.
The feature, which is powered by Globalstar’s satellites, works as long as users have a clear view of the sky.
To use the feature on an iPhone, users can begin to send a text message to 911 in the Messages app, and tap on Emergency Services, or they can open Control Center and scroll down to the page with a cellular symbol. A tap on “Satellite” opens Apple’s Connection Assistant, where users can choose Emergency SOS via satellite.
Emergency SOS via satellite is also available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The minimum iOS version requirement varies from country-to-country.
International travelers can use the feature while visiting countries where it is available, unless they bought their iPhone in Armenia, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, or Russia.
