First responders in Iowa are using the what3words app to help locate people in distress on Saylorville Lake, a popular spot for boaters in central Iowa, especially during the holiday weekend.The Johnston-Grimes Metropolitan Fire District is one of four agencies that respond to calls on the lake. They say a common theme when people call for help while out on the lake is that they have trouble figuring out their exact location. To address this, they are utilizing a free app called what3words . The app developers have divided the entire world into 10-by-10-foot squares, each identified by a unique string of three words. For instance, Johnston-Grimes Fire Chief Jim Clark demonstrated that one area of Saylorville Lake is labeled “residual,” “calculate,” and “furnace.””So every time you move, those words change,” Clark said. “And so if the dispatcher doesn’t know exactly where you’re at, you don’t know where you’re at. They will use the cell towers to try to triangulate your location with the cell towers. And then they will take that and put it into the what3words app. And then they’ll tell the responders what the three words are. And then we have those apps on our cell phones and our tablets in the rig. And so then we will try to zone in on your location based on What 3 Words.”Many police departments also use this app, including Windsor Heights police.
First responders in Iowa are using the what3words app to help locate people in distress on Saylorville Lake, a popular spot for boaters in central Iowa, especially during the holiday weekend.
The Johnston-Grimes Metropolitan Fire District is one of four agencies that respond to calls on the lake. They say a common theme when people call for help while out on the lake is that they have trouble figuring out their exact location.
To address this, they are utilizing a free app called what3words .
The app developers have divided the entire world into 10-by-10-foot squares, each identified by a unique string of three words.
For instance, Johnston-Grimes Fire Chief Jim Clark demonstrated that one area of Saylorville Lake is labeled “residual,” “calculate,” and “furnace.”
“So every time you move, those words change,” Clark said. “And so if the dispatcher doesn’t know exactly where you’re at, you don’t know where you’re at. They will use the cell towers to try to triangulate your location with the cell towers. And then they will take that and put it into the what3words app. And then they’ll tell the responders what the three words are. And then we have those apps on our cell phones and our tablets in the rig. And so then we will try to zone in on your location based on What 3 Words.”
Many police departments also use this app, including Windsor Heights police.
