When faced with a life and death request from emergency services, you can be confident of a fast response with REX from Subtonomy
“We rarely comment on a rescue, but in this case, we would like to say that [the walker] was very, very fortunate to have survived his ordeal.”
So said the leader of the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team when they finally located a lost climber in the UK’s Lake District.
At 3,209 feet, Scafell Pike, situated in the picturesque Lake District in the North-West of England, is the country’s tallest mountain - though not the UK’s as that honor goes to Scotland’s Ben Nevis at 4,411 feet. It’s a magnet for climbers and sightseers alike. But as anyone who’s spent time in the UK knows, the weather is notoriously changeable and in the Lake District is even more unpredictable than elsewhere. Brilliant blue skies can quickly be followed by low cloud and torrential rain, making it easy to lose your way and become disoriented.
In this case, a walker found himself lost just as the sun way going doing and used his mobile to call for help. Despite thick mist and rain he was located thanks to his mobile phone. The police instructed him to stay where he was, and mountain rescue would be sent to his location. But when rescuers turned up, they couldn’t find him. With his phone battery running out, the situation was becoming more desperate by the minute. A large team of rescuers, five search dogs and two drones spent the night combing the surrounding area before having to call off the search in the early hours of the following morning due to deteriorating conditions.
“We also have to say that Google Maps on smartphones are not suitable for navigating the hills, they lack detail and of course will not work with a flat battery,” the team commented when they eventually located the hypothermic, and injured walker the following afternoon. In situations like these, getting to walkers as quickly as possible is literally the difference between life and death.
No mobile network operator (MNO) wants to be in a situation where they could have saved a life, if only they’d been able to locate someone faster.
But beyond their social duty, assisting police, anti-terrorism and emergency services is something MNOs have had a duty to comply with since 1995 in Europe. This isn’t always easy, as the necessary data is often scattered through sub-systems and must be manually compiled by MNOs – slowing investigations and leading to human error. Locating people quickly and efficiently is just one of the problems facing emergency services though.
Subtonomy REX - emergency call location management
We can help MNOs transform the way they respond to lawful interception requests. Subtonomy REX provides an automated, highly secure and self-service solution that is fully compliant with all regulatory and legal requirements.
Find out how you can rethink your response to lawful telecom interception requests and meet us at ISS Europe 6-8 June 2023.