The "Find My iPhone" feature included in Apple phones helped rescuers locate a woman stuck in a crashed vehicle in Southern California, fire officials said.
Members of the San Bernardino County Fire Department said they were dispatched on Monday to assist in a reported traffic collision on Highway 18, according to The New York Post.
The individual who made the 911 call reportedly found a vehicle that had run off the side of a roadway and down the side of a hill.
The department dispatched a trio of fire engines and a heavy rescue truck company to the scene around 6:12am on Monday and found the vehicle had slid approximately 200 feet down the side of the roadway, per The Post.
Firefighters found a woman trapped in the car suffering from serious injuries, and proceeded to use a rope system to safely remove her while administering life-saving care.
They believe the woman likely drove off the road the night before. When she did not return home, her family became concerned and used Apple’s "Find My iPhone" feature to locate her phone. That led them to the crash location, after which they called police for assistance.
After the woman was safely removed from the vehicle she was loaded into a waiting ambulance and transported to a local hospital, the fire department told The Post.
This isn’t the first time the phone’s location feature has been used to track down a missing person. In April, a Georgia mother used the same feature to help police track down her 9-year-old son after someone stole her car with her child still inside.
Earlier this month a man who was lost in Alaska used another feature included on Apple iPhone 14’s called the SOS Satellite to alert authorities to his location despite having no cell service.
Rescuers said they “were thoroughly impressed with the accuracy and completeness of information included in the initial alert” that came from the man’s phone after the rescue.
