FENCE TOWNSHIP, WI— Florence County, Wisconsin officials are crediting an Apple iPhone for saving a crash victim’s life.
Sheriff Teresa Chrisman says October 17 at 5:55 a.m., her office received an automated 911 call from an iPhone saying it detected the owner of the phone was in an accident and was unresponsive. It then gave the location of the accident. Emergency personnel were sent to Highway 101 near the Popple River in Fence Township.
First responders found 18-year-old Austin Mills in a badly damaged vehicle that had left the roadway and rolled. He had severe head trauma. Officials say he wasn’t wearing a seat belt and had apparently swerved to avoid hitting a deer.
Mills was transported to Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson, then airlifted to Aurora BayCare in Green Bay, where he remains in the ICU.
Chrisman believes crash detection software that was enabled on Austin’s phone saved his life. The feature uses a combination of sensors to detect severe car crashes and automatically calls emergency services. She says it also helped a young man who was also in a severe accident in Iron Mountain last year.
Chrisman urges those who have crash detection on their iPhone to enable it.
