A Bradford, Ont., couple who got lost hiking in the Scanlon Creek Conservation Area were able to get help from search and rescue thanks to the quick thinking of a 911 operator and a smartphone app.
On Sunday, March 5, around 6:45 p.m., police were called to the conservation area on Line 9 in the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury by a couple lost in the park.
“The caller said that he and his girlfriend, both in their early twenties, had been walking around for about three hours, it was getting dark, their cell phone had spotty reception, and they were cold,” police said in a statement.
South Simcoe police say 911 communicators instructed the man to download the what3words app, a geolocation tool that assigns a unique three-word code to every three-by-three-metre square on Earth.
“Working together, the Communications team and the man used the app to find the couple’s exact location, which was approximately 500 metres northwest of the north entrance of the forest off Line 10,” police said.
Within 34 minutes of the 911 call, officers say the couple was located safely, with the 911 operator remaining with them on the line.
In an emergency situation, police are reminding residents that the what3words geolocating app will help communicators pinpoint the caller’s whereabouts so that officers can quickly respond to where help is needed.
The app, which works offline, is a great tool in parts of Canada where there is poor or unreliable internet and can be used when a street address is unavailable, police say.
Police say every three-metre square in the world has been given a unique combination of three words: a what3words address.
The system can be used via the free app for both iOS and Android or via the online map at what3words.com and is available in more than 40 languages.