A vital third party App, what3words, can help pinpoint your location in case of an emergency within a 3m radius.
For this reason, the Tshwane emergency services department has once again called on residents to download and use the application. They believe this could even save lives.
“It is advisable for residents to download the app, particularly those without registered addresses like in informal settlements,” said the Tshwane emergency services spokesperson, Charles Mabaso.
The metro partnered with the London-based app in late 2019, and it was available for residents to download since early in 2020.
“In many informal settlements, residents must wait for emergency services at a popular or predetermined location and direct them to an emergency scene/location once they arrive. This often happens during the night, posing a risk to both responders and the community members.
“It would be much simpler for residents to download the app, get their precise location and have emergency services come directly to them,” he said.
The what3words app works by covering the world with an imaginary square grid, the dimensions of each square are 3m x 3m, and allocates each square in the grid with three unique words. These three words are generated by the app at random but remain associated with the specific location forever.
“Instead of saying, ‘I’m just off the M17, near Molotlegi Road’ callers can now say ‘I am at bring footwork buttercups (the location generated by the app)’ and be located accurately,” said Mabaso.
The app is desirable to use in cases where a resident is in need of emergency services and does not know their precise location or if their home is an unregistered address.
These are also a few other reasons why it is advisable to download the app:
– Residents can simply launch the app, tap on the locate icon on the bottom right corner and the app will generate three words which will pin their exact location.
– You can then call emergency services on 107 using these three unique words and the responder will be able to pin your exact location.
– If you do not already have the app installed, 107 emergency call handlers are able to send an SMS to your phone with a link to a the web page displaying three words in the same words as the app.
– The weblink is zero-rated for Vodacom customers so they will not receive data charges for using the web page.
– Emergency responders can simply search your words on their app and be able to locate you.
Here are two videos available on YouTube on how to use the app:
Example 1:
Example 2:
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