Smartphone saves HTC executive's life in climbing accident

A smartphone helped rescuers locate a manager of a Taiwan-based smartphone maker who figured in an accident while going mountain climbing earlier this month. HTC manager Kang Chi-cheng, 33, was airlifted from a mountain Saturday after rescue teams managed to reach him, seven days after he fell into a ravine. Taiwan News reported that Kang was brought to the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Kaohsiung and was weak but generally in good health. Kang fell into a ravine while hiking on Nanhuda Mountain in Taroko National Park on Nov. 5. Using his smartphone, he called the 119 SOS hotline the same day and was finally located in the ravine on Friday. A separate article on The Next Web said Kang used his HTC smartphone to give his coordinates to the Taichung Fire Department. But strong wind, torrential rain and the rugged terrain in the area where Kang fell have hampered rescue attempts. "Thank you for all the help. My brother has been rescued by many people," Kang's elder sister Kang Kuei-hsiu said. Chen Yu-ming, the pilot of the rescue chopper, said Kang was suffering pain down the right side of his body, as well as suffering various other minor injuries. Following the rescue, a Taiwan fire official gave the public pointers on using their smartphone'slife-saving functions. Yeh Ching-feng, a commissioner with the Taipei City Fire Department, said smart phone users stranded in the mountains could use the device to get their messages out. Yeh said iPhone users can click open Google Map, hit the “my location" button to find out their coordinates and then dial “112" the universal emergency phone number. Users of Android-based smartphones can download software such as GPS Status or GPS Compass before they can find out the longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates of their locations, Yeh added. Not foolproof But Yeh admitted smartphones are not a foolproof device for mountain climbers, saying the phones will be useless in areas outside network coverage. On the other hand, Yeh said users of regular mobile phones can still be located and reached if their locations are within cellphone coverage, as the service provider and their base stations can locate the point where a call is initiated by triangulation, with an error ranging from 20 to 100 meters. — TJD, GMA News