Emergency SMS text registration (outdoor safety)

[Dogoak]

Posted this over on ROF yesterday and I thought it may be prudent to also post it here.

It's that time of the year again when the MRT teams are at their busiest and mountain safety is of paramount importance. registering for the Emergency SMS service is highly recommended for outdoor users.

Having spotted a couple of mountain safety/incident threads on other forums and a discussion with a mate today, I've become aware that the service isn't that well known about. He's also been involved in outdoor pursuits for many years and he hadn't heard of it, he's registered his number today.

As many of us are aware, some remote areas don't have a good or any mobile phone signal, quite often a text message can succeed where a call won't.


You can find out more and register your number with the service here.........

http://www.emergencysms.org.uk/about_emergencysms.php
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[Leshy]

Excellent! Never even knew it existed...
Thank you for sharing this !👍

 

[Bishop]

As part of any risk assessment, route or worst case scenario planning it also never hurts to look at the coverage map for your network provider. Although a cell-phone will keep trying to send a text until it handshakes with a tower in some places there's nothing for it but get to higher ground. The Llyn Brianne bothy is a good example of this and has a grid reference written on the door for where you can get a phone signal in an emergency.

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

Good information - thanks. This video might also be of interest. It talks about the 112 number, calls to which I believe go to the same place. Worth watching I think:

[video=youtube;XPZv_8dABfU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPZv_8dABfU[/video]

 

[Dogoak]

Yep 112 gets the emergency services as well. Thanks for the video DHD, the more info for folks the better.

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

A recent story about the 112 number being used

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/39152115

 

[Urvin]

This is an absolute lifesaver of a tip, especially for anyone spending time out in remote parts of the UK where cellular coverage is practically non-existent. A lot of people do not realize that standard voice calls need a much stronger, sustained signal to stay connected compared to a simple text message. If you are stuck in a valley or caught in bad weather on the hills with barely one bar of service, a text can often still squeeze through the network when a voice call keeps dropping completely. Taking two minutes to register your phone before you head out is a total no-brainer that could completely save your life if things go sideways on the trail. It is honestly crazy how much standard text messaging technology has evolved behind the scenes, both for critical safety features like this and for automated outbound communication. It sort of reminds me of how common cloud-based voicemail drop software has become in the marketing world for blasting out automated alerts simultaneously to thousands of people. While businesses use those systems to drop pre-recorded messages straight into inboxes without making phones ring, it is great to see the underlying telecom infrastructure being leveraged by emergency services to handle low-bandwidth text routing for mountain rescue. Definitely make sure you get that confirmation text back after signing up, and stay safe out there!

 

[Falstaff]

May I suggest this deserves it own section and sticky; Emergency Comms. Please Read.
incl what 3 words, the other sat nav options and how to use them or where to find more info?

 

[Falstaff]

May I suggest this deserves it own section and sticky; Emergency Comms. Please Read.
incl what 3 words, the other sat nav options and how to use them or where to find more info?

Cancel that, very old info, link is now U/s - But maybe still an emergency comms section and sticky?