Finding and communicating location during emergency (or just generally)

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

A recent thread entitled "Pilgrim rescued near Valcarlos" has some important pilgrim safety information that I wanted to share with you.

@Bradypus in the older thread's post #9 said

The article says that the man himself called for help and reported that he was lost. He was unable to give his exact location and what he could describe of the area was ambiguous. So search teams were sent to several possible locations.

Shortly afterwards @dougfitz commented that the lost pilgrim's phone may not have been a smartphone. Then, as often happens here, the thread went mainly off topic going forward changing from a rescued pilgrim to a related topic, the various ways to find and report your location with your smartphone. Ways that I remember being mentioned was using map apps like OSMand and other apps like GPS Coordinates, What3Words and AlertCops.

I started this thread to come up with a title with a better name so people looking for threads and posts about safety can find the posts we've already made on this important topic of finding one's location in an emergency and reporting it. Start by reading the posts linked to above and feel free to add more here.

By the way, finding your location can be handy for nonemergency use also such as posting a picture in an email and indicating where it was taken or sending text messages home to show your progress.

 

[C clearly]

Thanks for starting this new thread, Rick. It is easier to search for such information if it is not buried in a thread on a somewhat different topic.

I am interested in the various options (to a limited degree ) but first want to emphasize that the most important first advice for getting help in an emergency is the following:

• Call 112 to get help anywhere in Spain, Portugal or France (or elsewhere in Europe). They will get an English speaking operator to help you find and communicate the necessary location information.
• In Spain, it is advisable to also have AlertCops (for communication with police and rescue, IF you have an internet data connection) and WhatsApp (for general communication with most everyone) installed on your phone. [Edit: I am not certain of what kind of connection is necessary.]
• It can also be useful to know how to find your location coordinates on your phone. Different phones are different, so this gets complicated - thus the reason for this new thread.

If you want, you can stick with that level of understanding. However, for those who want further discussion about location information, feel free to post here, even if it duplicates what was on the other thread.

 

[peregrina2000]

I appreciate that there are many different ways to communicate your location with emergency services. But it’s just like toothpastes, IMHO, there are too many choices and too many options. I think that everyone who walks a camino should spend a few minutes before walking to choose ONE method that they will be able to use to make an emergency contact and share their location. Make sure your phone is equipped with the apps you need to do it and that you know how you will initiate contact. Being familiar with it ahead of time can save you a lot of stress if you ever have the bad luck to need it.

As someone who likes to keep it as simple as possible, here is what an experienced mountain climber in Spain has told me.

In an emergency, call 112. The person who answers will ask you if you have WhatsApp installed on your phone. If you do, and since they already have your phone number (since you called them), they will send you a WhatsApp message. You respond to their WhatsApp by sharing your location. If you don’t know how to do that, they will instruct you. But this is something that you can easily learn ahead of time — practice with friends!

EDIT: The information I posted above became outdated when the Spanish government adopted the AML services described by @dougfitz and @Rick of Rick and Peg. Today your phone call to 112 itself should transmit your location, so no additional communication should be required between you and the responder for purposes of locating you. There are still other good reasons to know how to share your location, of course.

This is just one of the many possible ways to do things, so spend a little time to figure out how to feel comfortable with one method and then just stick with that.

Hoping, of course, that no one ever needs to use it, but it is definitely worth the investment of time and effort ahead of time.

 

[dougfitz]

In Spain, it is advisable to also have AlertCops (for communication with police and rescue, IF you have an internet data connection)

I don't think this is correct. AlertCOPS uses the normal mobile telephone service and relies on you having a valid SIM installed. It appears it cannot work just on a data connexion. The Advanced Mobile Location service (AML) is the same. It sends an SMS message when you make a telephone call to an emergency number. Note that different countries have more than just the 112 number programmed into their systems as part of the AML arrangements.

 

[C clearly]

I don't think this is correct. AlertCOPS uses the normal mobile telephone service and relies on you having a valid SIM installed. It appears it cannot work just on a data connexion.

I don't understand the details, but recall some discussion that led me to believe that there is a specific data need. I haven't pursued it further because I always get a local SIM card to have both phone and internet connected. However, I am happy to be corrected, and have edited my post to indicate my uncertainty.

 

[dougfitz]

In an emergency, call 112. The person who answers will ask you if you have WhatsApp installed on your phone. If you do, and since they already have your phone number (since you called them), they will send you a WhatsApp message.

This seems overly complex. I think that the simplest approach is to have the Emergency Location Service or its iOS equivalent enabled. Then when you dial an enabled emergency service your phone will automatically send a location message via SMS, and it will appear in the control centre within a few seconds. Even if you have the Emergency Location Service turned off, the protocol allows it to be turned on, but this will delay determining your location and sending the SMS, But even then, it should do so in less than 25 seconds of the call being initiated.

Note that AML is relatively new, and many countries, like Spain and Portugal, have only implemented it in the last couple of years. So practices like sending WhatsApp messages are likely to change in response to location information now being available to the FFCCSE (in Spain) or equivalent emergency control centres elsewhere.

While 112 may seem the simplest emergency number to use, many people will be familiar with the numbers traditionally used in their own countries, like 999, 000, 911, etc. These seem to be enabled as well. Certainly in Australia, the 000 number is AML enabled, and other countries have enabled a range of their emergency numbers.

There is a dearth of up to date information about the deployment of AML. Even Wikipedia hasn't been updated since about 2021 when I was looking for information about which countries have enabled AML.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

By the way, finding your location can be handy for nonemergency use...

I am very grateful that you have resurrected this subject bcause I read the the sentence quoted, and thought "Do I actually know how to do this on my iPhone?" Well, actually, no, it turned out. So, read on, Paul.

Being familiar with it ahead of time can save you a lot of stress if you ever have the bad luck to need it.

Turns out to be good advice in my case. I looked for LOCATION in my phone, and at first couldn't find it. It appears at a third level in Settings>Privacy and Security>Location Services. Although my LS was indeed turned on, and at the next level Share My Location was also on, I was picturing myself in a ditch with a broken bone wondering "How the **** do I actually share my location?"

Thank you @dougfitz

I think that the simplest approach is to have the Emergency Location Service or its iOS equivalent enabled. Then when you dial an enabled emergency service your phone will automatically send a location message via SMS, and it will appear in the control centre within a few seconds.

This very reassuring. It had also occurred to me that an extra hazard for me in an emergency might be that I can't find my glasses, but dialling 112 should certainly not be a problem, and I now assume that the phone does the rest.
I also note that if I hold down my side button and a volume button simultaneously I get an option button to call emergency services automatically.
So, "case closed"?

 

[C clearly]

This seems overly complex. I think that the simplest approach is to have the Emergency Location Service or its iOS equivalent enabled.

Thank you for spurring me to look into this.

Like @Peregrinopaul with his i-phone, I have taken a few minutes to find the Emergency Location Service setting on my Android phone. It is a good reminder to make sure that is ON, when I am walking the Camino, as a basic safety measure, even if I don't want Google to follow me around at home. It is reassuring to know that I probably won't need to fuss with the coordinates in an emergency, although I have also found how to do that on Google Maps - very easy to drop a pin and see the address (either street address or coordinates if there is no street address.)

 

[Robo]

This seems overly complex. I think that the simplest approach is to have the Emergency Location Service or its iOS equivalent enabled. Then when you dial an enabled emergency service your phone will automatically send a location message via SMS, and it will appear in the control centre within a few seconds. Even if you have the Emergency Location Service turned off, the protocol allows it to be turned on, but this will delay determining your location and sending the SMS, But even then, it should do so in less than 25 seconds of the call being initiated.

Thanks @dougfitz . I had never heard of this.
Found a simple video showing how to turn it on for Android.

 

[chinacat]

The ‘what3words’ App has divided the world, (yes, the world!) into 3 metre squares, each located with a unique combination of 3 words.

For IOS:
If you have enabled Locations for the App (whilst using App), you tap the Arrow icon and the 3 words for your location appear above the map.
The language can be altered to suit the country.

Cumbria’s Fire and Rescue Service rolled it out in 2019, to enable it to find callers in distress.

Alternatively, IOS 11 onwards users can simply hold down the side button and a volume button to access ’Emergency SOS’ (as @Peregrinopaul ’s post above).
This works regardless of whether or not Location Services are switched on.

 

[jdpiguet]

From the mobile phone point-of-view, 112 is a special number:

• You can dial it without unlocking the phone
• You can make a call without SIM
• You can make a call on an other operator network

These functions are part of the standards all mobile devices should comply in order to be sold.

In short: you don't need to remember anything else than 112 to initiate an emergancy call.

Buen Camino (without emergency!), Jacques-D.

Edited: the real freaks can consult section 10 of TS 122 101

 

[VNwalking]

You can dial it without unlocking the phone

I never noticed this, but yes!
I also see that it's possible to add medical information and emergency contacts:
The keypad that pos up shows a red icon in the lower left

Also see the note at the top about contacts.
When you click the red icon, this comes up:

When I try to do that, there's no obvious place in the contact info to add the medical info, though. So it's not cleear how this would help.

 

[dougfitz]

It is a good reminder to make sure that is ON, when I am walking the Camino, as a basic safety measure, even if I don't want Google to follow me around at home.

Even if people do not turn the Emergency Location Service on, it seems it will be turned on automatically when you initiate a call to a recognized emergency number. It appears that the service is then turned off again at some point either during or immediately after the call if it had to be turned on.

There is a short explanation of how the AML service works here. Given the global nature of the AML service and its implementation in more recent Android and iOS devices, I expect this explanation will apply in other places, but if you want to confirm that, you will need to locate the information in your own country.

There is also a short explanation on how AML is implemented in Android OS here.

 

[Kathor1]

section 10 of TS 122 101

Thanks!

 

[dougfitz]

Edited: the real freaks can consult section 10 of TS 122 101

Thank you for the link. The standard make clear three things:

• emergency calls are speech calls - It shall be possible to establish an emergency speech call (S10.1)
  • there is currently no option in the standard for data based emergency calls, although the standard has placeholders to implement that in the future.
• national regulations may allow privacy settings to be over-ridden - National regulations may require wireless networks to provide the emergency caller"s location. This requirement typically overrides the caller"s right to privacy with respect to their location being revealed, but remains in effect only as long as the authorities need to determine the caller"s location. (S10.6)
• supplementary data can be transmitted during an emergency call - Emergency calls may be supplemented with emergency related data [1]. Typically this data enables the accurate geographic location of a manually or automatically activated emergency calling device e.g. an in vehicle system (IVS), to be provided to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). (S10.7)

This clarifies a couple of remarks I made earlier, and confirms the explanations both @Kathar1na and I provided in an earlier thread.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I'm falling a bit behind in my reading in this thread but I am trying to find new information to post and that includes some still useful old information in a forum thread from last summer.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/why-calling-112-is-important-in-an-emergency-or-if-you-are-simply-lost.74449/

That also includes a post or two of mine on What3Words and its settings to get Spanish words. Another of my finds was a YouTube video that discusses and shows problems with What3Words. I've used W3W and its app for years but never found it very useful in the real world.

YouTube video id: SqK0ciE0rto
I suggest clicking on the title below to hopefully get a big video. Clicking the arrow gives you an embedded video.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

In an emergency, call 112. The person who answers will ask you if you have WhatsApp installed on your phone. If you do, and since they already have your phone number (since you called them), they will send you a WhatsApp message. You respond to their WhatsApp by sharing your location. If you don’t know how to do that, they will instruct you. But this is something that you can easily learn ahead of time — practice with friends!

I believe that in Spain this is no longer the case as AML, Advanced Mobile Location [for emergencies] is implemented. The steps that they requested that you do for them are now likely done automatically if using supported smartphones and operating systems and most of the ones we use are, even older ones (oh, and you have the correct user settings).

Spain also implemented the AlertCops app. I'm supposing this was done as an intermediate step to getting the nationwide phone system to do a lot of the same things.

Many countries now will accept other country's emergency numbers in addition to their own. Things vary from place to place but 000, 112, 991 and 999 dialled incorrectly by habit may still connect you to emergency services.

A tip of the hat to @dougfitz. I think he said much the same earlier but in a different way. And apologies for my tentativeness in some of my wording; I have to explore AML more.

 

[peregrina2000]

I believe that in Spain this is no longer the case as AML, Advanced Mobile Location [for emergencies] is implemented.

Yes, I learned that too after posting my comment. Thanks to those who helped me figure this out!

https://www.proteccioncivil.es/-/los-112-incorporan-el-sistema-aml-que-permite-geolocalizar-con-precisión-las-llamadas-realizadas-desde-un-teléfono-móvil

What this tells me is that people with smart phones don’t have to know how to do any location sharing with emergency services, because the call itself will transmit that information.

Before I knew this, I would have said that people were ill advised to walk without WhatsApp in case of an emergency, but now I think the more accurate advice is

— knowing how to share your location might still be helpful for other circumstances, and Whatsapp is one of several ways to do it. I think everyone (or at at least those with a limited tolerance or aptitude for technology) should learn one way and forget about the others.

— Using WhatsApp, in spite of its being a part of Facebook, makes all aspects of walking a camino easier, from making reservations to contacting other people you have met while walking. 95% of Spaniards with a smart phone use WhatsApp.

 

[dougfitz]

I believe that in Spain this is no longer the case as AML, Advanced Mobile Location [for emergencies] is implemented.

I do note that the Australian TripleZero agency has identified circumstances where it might not be technically possible to obtain the handset location using the AML service. I don't know how common these might be nor do I know if the same issues exist elsewhere. How I interpret that is that were that to happen in Spain, it would still be necessary for the FFCCSE to obtain that information from you, eg by WhatsApp if you have it installed.

So while we can take heart in the advances have been made, I am not entirely convinced that there won't be some limited circumstances where @peregrina2000's advice to have WhatsApp installed is spot on the money.

 

[dougfitz]

The ‘what3words’ App has divided the world, (yes, the world!) into 3 metre squares, each located with a unique combination of 3 words.

Note that what3words is not used by the emergency services in Spain and Portugal. My recollection is that in Europe, only the UK and Germany have implemented it in their emergency service organizations.

 

[VNwalking]

I am not entirely convinced that there won't be some limited circumstances where @peregrina2000's advice to have WhatsApp installed is spot on the money.

Or for those of us who are staunch Meta refusniks, know how to access your location information, and your options for sending it without WhatsApp, "in case." Coordinates can always be transmitted verbally if need be.

 

[SeaHorse]

As far as I know mobile phone coverage in Spain is generally good but if you get lost you may wander away from the good coverage too. An old trick may help: hold any long piece of metal (walking pole, tent pole, etc) flat against the back of your phone as an additional antenna. Just hold both phone and stick in your hand, point to the sky, call.

 

[Ivan_Prada]

Just a coment.

I notice when the Compass App is opened, it shows the coordinates. Is this enough information to provide the emergency people our location?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Just a coment.

I notice when the Compass App is opened, it shows the coordinates. Is this enough information to provide the emergency people our location?

I suppose you are talking about one built into the iPhone. If so, yes. I think it would be easier to give your location in decimal degrees though so if I had this I would try to change things in the settings if it possible.

Use the compass on iPhone

Use the Compass on iPhone to see your latitude, longitude, direction, and elevation.

support.apple.com

There are compass apps for Android too. I played with a few a couple of years ago and I'm remembering that at least one I tried gave location.

 

[Kathor1]

suppose you are talking about one builtin to the iPhone. If so, yes. I think it would be easier to give your location in decimal degrees though so if I had this I would try to change things in the settings if it possible.

The DMS format of the location coordinates of the built-in Compass app on iPhones cannot be changed to other formats.

 

[chinacat]

@Rick of Rick and Peg

Well, I’ve watched the video … parts of it were very amusing

I think his idea of 4 words is excellent and I think the attitude of the muppets who own/run it is curmudgeonly, to say the least.

It’s that that would put me off using it.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I think the attitude of the muppets who own/run it is curmudgeonly

Sorry, curmudgeonly.muppet.owners is not found. Do you mean ///television.sock.puppets?

 

[chinacat]

Sorry, curmudgeonly.muppet.owners is not found. Do you mean ///television.sock.puppets?

It’s in the middle of the Pacific …
and it asked me if I wanted traffic information ….