Life in an avalanche and an important lesson in why

Life in an avalanche and a big lesson in why mobile technology can be the line between life and death on a day without signals.

Imagine you're in the middle of a white mountain range polluted with snow, but in a flash, beautiful nature turns to disaster when an avalanche cuts you off from the outside world.

This happened in Lake Tahoe, U.S.A., when six skiers faced a dead second in an avalanche, in a spot deep in difficult terrain and without a single telephone signal, which, as was common in the past, could mean a pointless wait for help.

But what made them survive was not just bad luck, but the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature or satellite text messaging installed on mobile phones.

Back in the day after the avalanche, a group of skiers found themselves trapped in a remote area, no cell signals, no flammable signals, not to mention, but one of them used an iPhone to press a satellite call for help, which connected to rescue workers directly via text messages even without a signal pole in the area.

According to the New York Times, officials can communicate with groups of skiers for up to four hours continuously to accurately coordinate the rescue amid bad weather and restrictions on access to the area, until everyone is safely rescued.

The principle of this feature is that when we are at a completely impaired point, the machine will try to find the location of the orbiting satellite overhead to use as an emergency messaging channel with GPS coordinates to the rescue center, a technology that previously required expensive and cumbersome specialized tools to carry.

For Thais, this is more important than it seems, because Thais now prefer to travel on world-class nature trails, whether skiing in Japan or hiking in Europe and America, where they always have mobile blind spots. Having a device that supports this system is like having a life insurance ticket with them.

The feature is currently available in many countries, such as the United States, Japan and European countries, supported in iPhone models 14 and up, as well as new smart watches like the Apple Watch Ultra. Although Thailand is not fully operational today, this is a security technology trend that is completely changing the world of rescue.

The lessons of Lake Tahoe teach us that the beauty of nature often comes with unexpected risks; getting ready and knowing how to make the most of communication in times of trouble is what helps us get home to our loved ones safely, because in the moment life hangs on a yarn, the right technology can be the only thing that pulls us back from danger.

# Technology # iPhone # EmergencySOS # Lake Tahoe # Avalanche