BROWNSBURG, Ind. — First responders and dispatchers say a new app is becoming a game-changer in Hendricks County.
The free app What3Words pinpoints a precise and accurate location, especially in parks and rural areas. The map is divided into 10-by-10-foot squares that each have three unique words.
It’s something the Hendricks County Communications Center recently started testing.
“We need to know just two things, where you are at and what type of response you need. So the quicker we get that information, the quicker we can get help to them,” said Greg O’Brien, operations manager at Hendricks County Communications Center.
When dispatchers get a call, it will usually show an address, coordinates and three words based on where the phone pinged from.
The new technology came in handy Tuesday afternoon when a woman called saying her sister fell and hurt her ankle in Brownsburg’s Williams Park.
Since it was a wooded area, there wasn’t an exact location to send first responders. O’Brien first used the closest street address and then communicated the “three words” to direct them to the victim.
“I was hoping they could use it to find a good route to the patient,” he said.
One of the first responders on the scene had the app and knew what to do.
“The officer on the ladder that day actually had the app on his phone and was able to type in the three words which gave him a location of where the victim was at,” said Brownsburg Fire Department Capt. Justin Butts.
Butts said when he arrived on the scene, he first started doing the search the old way. In this case, there were dogs that he was listening for.
“By the time I checked one area and backtracked to the next, they showed up and were able to go in a straight line to locate the person,” he said.
He said the crew was able to rescue her within minutes and get her to the hospital.
“To actually search by foot can be a fairly extensive operation even in a small park,” Butts said. “Out of sight and out of voice range is a very long distance if you need help.”
Anyone can download the app and communicate the three words to dispatchers. It can also be used to find friends and family at large events.