iPhone satellite SOS feature sends costly false alarm

[Glenn MacGrady]

"The text sent to Cook County’s 911 dispatch center said a person in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was literally in flames."

https://www.elyecho.com/article/3534,search-and-rescue-receives-multiple-false-alerts-from-satellite-enabled-iphones-in-bwca

Sounds more like human than technological error to me.

 

[Gamma1214]

Reading the article, I got the impression that it's a glitch in the iPhone's crash detection feature. If shoveling snow or dropping the silly things sends an emergency alert, crash detection should probably be turned off.

 

[lowangle al]

I used my iphone to send text messages via sattalite this spring and the SOS feature popped up on my screen for some reason. I was concerned that I could have inadvertantly set it off like a butt dial, but as I recall that wouldn't have been likely.

 

[Gamma1214]

I'm curious why the emergency responders wouldn't text before sending in the cavalry. My understanding of the inReach's protocols are that, If the SOS feature is activated, Garmin attempts to contact the inReach so that they know what level of response is appropriate.

Admittedly, maybe a report of a burning human would be sufficient to scramble all available assets; especially if said human was "stop, drop & rolling" to potentially spread the fire throughout the forest.

I know that we have a few (probably quite a few) SAR /EMS folks here... Is this tech too new to have established protocols or do they scramble everything as a "better safe than sorry" kinda deal?

 

[Erica]

Recently on the Mégiscane my iPhone occasionally showed « SOS only ». I wondered what would happen if I pressed it - such as is it just an SOS like a SPOT SOS with no message? Or can one compose a text message?

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Recently on the Mégiscane my iPhone occasionally showed « SOS only ». I wondered what would happen if I pressed it - such as is it just an SOS like a SPOT SOS with no message? Or can one compose a text message?

Don't know but I found this very recent article:

Connect to a satellite with your iPhone - Apple Support

With iPhone 14 or later (all models), you can connect your iPhone to a satellite to text emergency services, request roadside assistance, message friends and family, and share your location — all while you're off the grid with no cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.

support.apple.com

Now, I have to figure out what my Android can do.