Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue urge people to download "lifesaving" app this summer
With hundreds of thousands expected to visit beaches across Dorset this summer, emergency services are encouraging people to download the What3Words app
Last updated 11th Jul 2023
Emergency services in Dorset are urging people to download the What3Words app as millions of tourists visit the county this summer.
Nearly two–thirds of UK adults aged 25-34 say they’re planning to go on a trip/holiday to somewhere they’ve never been to before.
During the summer, Dorset towns like Bournemouth, Weymouth and Lyme Regis become tourism hotspots, doubling in population size.
Damien Bence, area manager of Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue, said: “During the busy summer period, the beach is an absolute minefield, so trying to give a pinpoint location can be hard.”
According to police, a lot of 999 calls in the summer consist of missing children reports that’s why Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue are encouraging more people to download What3Words.
They claim it’s "really useful" in helping identify the precise location people get lost or even where wildfires start.
Damien Bence said: “We’ve rescued a few people because of the What3Words app. We had a paraglider who landed in a tree and was able to reach his phone, phone us and give us a what three words pinpoint location so that we could rescue him out of the tree.”
The app has divided the entire globe into a 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares and assigned each one a unique combination of three words. The app even works offline, making it an ideal tool for people who need help in areas with poor data connection such as remote fields, beaches or even the sea.
Damien doesn’t think the paraglider would’ve been found if it wasn’t for the app, “they would’ve struggled to give an accurate description of the location,” he said.
More than 4 in 10 people fear this happening to them. According to the AA, 42% of the people they surveyed say they’re “worried” that if they had to call the emergency services, they wouldn’t be able to explain exactly where they were.
Damien Bence told us: “The essential bit is making sure you've downloaded the app and are familiar with it because that will save potentially lifesaving minutes and seconds in order to call the emergency services and give a pinpoint location.”