Posted on Facebook by Cambs FRS. - What3words

[velbert]

If you came across a fire in the middle of a field away from roads and points of interest, you'd find it pretty difficult to describe where you are
That's where the free
=AZXJsmsETMRLQAi2Fh7JUnLDJ0JSg_qftRRqxy8msq2iWadasNaINEaRe_bMOR-AsmjQvlJ2AZ1bnZiLDWfKL5rk6T8E91mPy9AwupuisMOCIx9zQxBN2vyzVI0l7EGGiK3VXysTWN8l6aWngNJnw-yFxP7gXwVLSVscyQPN_LT7jsfluvRc5_MhqjodkjNQEaH0EfxCVHjd6KeQLas4uxgj&__tn__=kK-y-R]what3words
app can help. It's divided the world into 3x3 metre squares, each with a unique three word reference. If you need to call 999, you can give our call handlers the three words and they'll know exactly where to send help
=AZXJsmsETMRLQAi2Fh7JUnLDJ0JSg_qftRRqxy8msq2iWadasNaINEaRe_bMOR-AsmjQvlJ2AZ1bnZiLDWfKL5rk6T8E91mPy9AwupuisMOCIx9zQxBN2vyzVI0l7EGGiK3VXysTWN8l6aWngNJnw-yFxP7gXwVLSVscyQPN_LT7jsfluvRc5_MhqjodkjNQEaH0EfxCVHjd6KeQLas4uxgj&__tn__=*NK-y-R]#HelpUsHelpYou quicker, download what3words from your phone app store now
=AZXJsmsETMRLQAi2Fh7JUnLDJ0JSg_qftRRqxy8msq2iWadasNaINEaRe_bMOR-AsmjQvlJ2AZ1bnZiLDWfKL5rk6T8E91mPy9AwupuisMOCIx9zQxBN2vyzVI0l7EGGiK3VXysTWN8l6aWngNJnw-yFxP7gXwVLSVscyQPN_LT7jsfluvRc5_MhqjodkjNQEaH0EfxCVHjd6KeQLas4uxgj&__tn__=*NK-y-R]#Help999FindYou =AZXJsmsETMRLQAi2Fh7JUnLDJ0JSg_qftRRqxy8msq2iWadasNaINEaRe_bMOR-AsmjQvlJ2AZ1bnZiLDWfKL5rk6T8E91mPy9AwupuisMOCIx9zQxBN2vyzVI0l7EGGiK3VXysTWN8l6aWngNJnw-yFxP7gXwVLSVscyQPN_LT7jsfluvRc5_MhqjodkjNQEaH0EfxCVHjd6KeQLas4uxgj&__tn__=*NK-y-R]#LocateRuralFires =AZXJsmsETMRLQAi2Fh7JUnLDJ0JSg_qftRRqxy8msq2iWadasNaINEaRe_bMOR-AsmjQvlJ2AZ1bnZiLDWfKL5rk6T8E91mPy9AwupuisMOCIx9zQxBN2vyzVI0l7EGGiK3VXysTWN8l6aWngNJnw-yFxP7gXwVLSVscyQPN_LT7jsfluvRc5_MhqjodkjNQEaH0EfxCVHjd6KeQLas4uxgj&__tn__=*NK-y-R]#KnowExactlyWhere

[brumble49]

Police have urged everyone to download a smartphone app they say has already saved several lives. What is it and how does it work?

Kicked. Converged. Soccer.

These three randomly chosen words saved Jess Tinsley and her friends after they got lost in a forest on a dark, wet night.

They had planned a five-mile circular stroll through the 4,900 acre (2,000 hectare) woodland Hamsterley Forest, in County Durham, on Sunday evening, but after three hours they were hopelessly lost.

"We were in a field and had no idea where we were," the 24-year-old care worker from Newton Aycliffe said.

"It was absolutely horrendous. I was joking about it and trying to laugh because I knew if I didn't laugh I would cry."

At 22:30 BST they found a spot with phone signal and dialled 999.

"One of the first things the call-handler told us to do was download the what3words app," Ms Tinsley said.

"I had never heard of it."

Within a minute of its download, the police said they knew where the group was and the soaked and freezing walkers were swiftly found by the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team.

“I have told everyone I know to download this app," Ms Tinsley said.

"You never know when you are going to get lost and need it."

What3words essentially points to a very specific location.

Its developers divided the world into 57 trillion squares, each measuring 3m by 3m (10ft by 10ft) and each having a unique, randomly assigned three-word address.

For example, the door of 10 Downing Street is slurs.this.shark, while the area across the road where the press congregate is stage.pushy.nuns.

It was born out of company founder Chris Sheldrick's postal-related problems growing up in rural Hertfordshire.

"Our postcode did not point to our house," he said.

"We got used to getting post meant for other people, or having to stand in the road to flag down delivery drivers."

Ten years in the music industry, which involved trying to get bands to meet at specific entrances to their venues, also fuelled his frustration.

"I tried to get people to use longitude and latitude but that never caught on," Mr Sheldrick said.

"It got me thinking, how can you compress 16 digits into something much more user friendly?

"I was speaking to a mathematician and we found there were enough combinations of three words for every location in the world."

In fact, 40,000 words was enough.

The company started in 2013 and now employs more than 100 people at its base in Royal Oak, west London.

Mongolia has adopted what3words for its postal service, while Lonely Planet's guide for the country gives three word addresses for its points of interest.


“Instead of saying 'meet at the gate and then get directed from there,' we can be absolutely specific about where our crew needs to get to," Mr Wilkes said.

"It will make for a much more effective service. We are quite excited about it.

"It would be flippant of me to say this will become commonplace but I really do think it could be.

"I just cannot see a downside."
ercedes Benz has also included its system in its cars and what3words is now being used in 35 languages.

But still, not enough people know about it according to Lee Wilkes, a crew manager for Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, one of 35 English and Welsh emergency services to have signed up to the system.

"It cuts out all ambiguity about where we need to be," he said.

Tackling fires in large rural expanses, for example on moors, will be helped by the system, Mr Wilkes said.
If people do not have the app, the emergency services can send a text message containing a web link to their phones.

But that requires a signal (85% of the country is said to have a 4G connection). The app does not need a phone signal to tell someone their three-word location, however.

"Say there was a group up a mountain and one got injured," Mr Sheldrick said.

"They haven't got any signal to call for help, but they can still find out their three word location.

"Someone from the group can then take that down and tell the emergency services, who then know exactly where to go to find the injured person."

The emergency services are urging people to download the free app.

If people do not have the app, the emergency services can send a text message containing a web link to their phones.

But that requires a signal (85% of the country is said to have a 4G connection). The app does not need a phone signal to tell someone their three-word location, however.

"Say there was a group up a mountain and one got injured," Mr Sheldrick said.

"They haven't got any signal to call for help, but they can still find out their three word location.

"Someone from the group can then take that down and tell the emergency services, who then know exactly where to go to find the injured person."

The emergency services are urging people to download the free app.

Humberside Police also used the system to find a group of foreign nationals, including a pregnant woman in labour, who were trapped inside a shipping container at a port.

"The port had over 20,000 containers and we knew that we needed to get to them quickly," said the force's control room supervisor Paul Redshaw.

The group were told to download the app and they were soon found.

"There is no doubt in my mind that these incidents could have had very different outcomes had we not been able to use what3words," Mr Redshaw said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-4 ... m=facebook

[Nightstaffer]

It’s great . I try to recommend it to friends and family
Not just for emergency purposes
Say you are in town and you want your friends to join you
The three words in theory would bring them to the seat/ table where you are sitting waiting for them.

meeting a mate to go fishing / walking etc and it will tell them whereabouts on the riverbank/ track that you are wanting to meet up

I play a form of treasure hunt with it
Choose an interesting place
Give someone the three words that locate it
Then they have to tell you what they found when / if they get there

[bill.advanced]

http://www.uk-fire.net/forum1/index.php?...ife.29789/

[strontium dog]

I’ve now used it at a job. Plod at casualty, told plod at rvp, told me. Crew straight up hill to casualty, no faffing about.

Saved time getting to casualty and allowed planning of best route to location, safely up, safely down.

Impressed.

[bill.advanced]

It’s very useful for outdoors activities such as hillwalking. All mountain rescue teams now use this software to locate casualties. I have a friend in the Loch Lomond Mountain Rescue Team, and they have used this to locate casualties, but unfortunately most hill walkers don’t have it downloaded on their phones. The other problem in rural locations is lack of internet coverage. I feel this needs even more publicity than it currently receives.

[HappyH]

Email from my Neighbourhood Watch scheme this morning.

As of Tuesday 9th March 2021 Police Scotland will now use the ‘what3words’ app to help pinpoint a particular location in emergency situations in addition to traditional addresses.

What3words works by gridding the Earth into 3x3 metre squares - the coordinates of each are then given three unique words to pinpoint an exact location. This will be useful for members of the public who are contacting the police from rural or unknown areas.

“What3words will help frontline police officers and staff to locate members of the public quickly when they are calling from an unknown or rural area. When Covid-19 restrictions begin to ease, we know that people may want to venture further from home, to remote or rural locations. What3words does not change the requirement to ensure that you are properly prepared if heading to the hills, always have a map and compass and ensure that you have your route planned out in advance." Superintendent Iain MacLelland

More information about what3words can be found on the what3words website: https://what3words.com/about

Message Sent By
Lynn Black (Police, Constable, National Rural Crime Scotland)

HH.