Yorkshire ambulance service encourage us to download safety app
"What three words" can help pinpoint your exact location
Yorkshire Ambulance Service is urging us to download an app which could make it easier for them to find us in case of an emergency.
What3words provides a way to communicate precise locations. It has divided the globe into a grid of 3m x 3m squares and assigned each one a unique combination of three words: a what3words address. The app is free to download and works offline and can be used as a tool for people who need help in areas with poor data connection such as national parks, campsites, and beaches. It’s used by over 85% of the UK’s police, ambulance and fire services.
Helen Smith is part of the team picking up 999 calls for Yorkshire Ambulance Service: "We use it literally on a daily basis and for so many different things, not just your road traffics or your falling over and injuring yourself, it can be used when someone is in the centre of town on a night out, it's just more accurate than giving us a location."
Save precious minuets in a time critical situation
"Sometimes we may have problems finding someone and the ambulance crew finds them and they give us the "what three words" so I can pass it onto maybe the helicopter or mountain rescue teams that might be attending, it's just a really valuable tool."
Their campaign comes as research from the AA suggests nearly two–thirds of UK adults aged 25-34 (62%) are planning to go on a trip, holiday, or to an event in a destination that they’ve never been to before this summer, on a mixture of day trips and sampling the best of what Britain has to offer with staycations.
The organisation says just over two-fifths of UK adults (41%) will be on the road more often in the summer to visit their family and friends, with 1 in 3 (38%) admitting they will be driving on unfamiliar roads when travelling this summer.