A Girl Scout who fell into a canyon during a hike in a remote, mountainous part of Southern California earlier this year was rescued within hours after suffering a potentially dangerous concussion thanks to a direct-to-cell satellite service that enables users to get in touch with 911 using a regular smartphone in the absence of terrestrial cell phone coverage.
Owners of the newest iPhones have been able to text 911 in emergency situations via satellites circling the planet in low Earth orbit since late 2022. Those phones, however, needed specialized antennas to connect to dedicated satellite communications frequencies.
