On December 26, a woman who had plummeted 200 feet below the roadway in her vehicle was found and rescued by the San Bernardino County Fire Department after her family used her iPhone's Find My feature to locate her. According to reports, the family members grew concerned when they hadn't heard from her after she left a family gathering and used this iPhone feature to check her location. When they saw the map indicating that she was off to the side of the road they called for help.
The vehicle was found "over the side & well off the roadway." It's believed that the woman was likely in the car overnight following the crash. Since it was 200 feet below the roadway, rescuers had to set up a capstan raising system to lift her up to a waiting ambulance. According to a Facebook post by the San Bernardino County Fire Department, the woman had "serious injuries" and "crews initiated advanced life support (ALS) interventions" before transporting her to a trauma center. She is currently being tended to.
Find My was first introduced to Apple devices in 2010 as a perk for MobileMe users but then became widely available as a free feature for all iPhones in 2011. This feature along with Crash Detection and Emergency SOS, which first launched with iPhone 14, have helped to locate and save a number of people from car crashes.
Earlier this year, Emergency SOS via Satellite released for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro in select countries and it will be coming to even more countries in 2023. This new feature enables "messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage" using satellite connections to assist those who need it. It's already proven to be helpful like for a couple who had crashed into a canyon earlier this month.
