New app saves injured walker
ADVANCED technology has aided in the rescue of a stranded walker.
After receiving leg injuries while hiking at the top of a windy cliff face on Flinders Island this month, a female tourist in her sixties was caught without mobile phone reception to lead paramedics to her whereabouts.
But thanks to a new global geolocation app — What3words — Ambulance Tasmania personnel were able to locate the injured walker.
The app works by dividing the world map into a grid of 57 trillion 3m squares, while giving each square a unique combination of three words.
And in the case of the Flinders Island rescue, paramedics were able to find the tourist by locating the “Murky Founding Spoonfuls” square.
Ambulance Tasmania Operations Team Leader
Nick Bradford said What3words was a gamechanger.
“We don’t have to ask ‘Where have you come from?’, ‘Where are you going?’, ‘What can you see?’ These questions take time and aren’t always that accurate, especially for visitors,” he said.
“Asking for a What3words address or sending an SMS means we can save valuable time responding to emergencies.”
What3words chief executive Chris Sheldrick said the company was “delighted” to hear about the first Australian rescue using the app.
“We’re delighted to hear about the first Australian rescue using What3words and are excited to work with Ambulance Tasmania who are embracing new technologies, like ours, to save lives, ” he said. The free app can be accessed at www.what3words.com.