Three words could save your life
YOU probably never thought three totally unconnected words would be able to save your life.
But that is exactly what they can do for people who become stranded in remote areas when they do not know their exact location.
A special app and algorithm developed by a company called What3Words has divided the world into 57 trillion nine-sq-metre areas and each one has been categorised with a unique threeword address.
The system has been adopted by several emergency services across the country including West Yorkshire Police and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
It has already been used to rescue a mum and daughter stranded in a remote rural location after a car crash, used by a call handler to locate a sex assault victim being held hostage, and used to find a child lost near a river.
Chris Sheldrick, co-founder of what3words, said: “Being in need of urgent help and not being able to easily describe where you are can be very distressing and a really difficult situation for emergency services.
“Today, people nearly always have their phone on them. We need to use the tools at our disposal to improve public services and potentially save lives.”
In one of the most recent cases a young mum was saved when her forest walk went wrong.
After three hours Jess Tinsley, her partner and a friend had become completely lost but managed to find a spot with phone signal and call 101 for help.
The call handler urged Jess to download the free app and she was able to give the emergency services the unique three words ‘kicked-converged-soccer’ and a mountain rescue team was dispatched. The trio were found deep within a 4,900 acre woodland.
Find the What3words in the app store or for more information visit www.what3words.com