Earlier this evening our engine company was called to assist Phoenix PD Firebird with a mountain rescue at South Mountain Park. While flying over the park (which is a huge mountain preserve in southern Phoenix) Firebird noticed an individual waving their open cell phone and investedgated to find a hiker who was complaining of being "dehydrated" and out of water.

The hiker, who was under prepared and had insufficient water for a 4+ hour hike was also wearing a sweatshirt (that was soaked through with sweat) “for fitness” had made to within ¾ mile of the parking lot where his car was when he signaled the helicopter for help. Firebird was able to land and extricate him to the parking lot.

While the whole event is a huge example of what NOT to do, it does show that in an emergency a cell phone can be used to signal low flying aircraft in an emergency…

Still unsure why he didn’t use his cell phone to make a call for help… and yes, I asked.

I hate those situations. When your relatively close to your goal, but you don't know it. It can be a drawl. And Afterwards when you find out you are extremely annoyed.

The chopper managed to see a cell phone in one's hand?

Good spotting.

I think I'm missing something. Please elaborate on how to use a cell phone to signal low flying aircraft.

During the day if you open it up you can probably reflect the sun off of the display for a signal.
At night since the display can be on for a few seconds you can constantly open and close the phone(my Samsung is fairly bright) and use as a flashlight or beacon-but I'm not sure how far away the light can be seen.I've just used my cell as a flashlight outside the home when I didn't feel like going in to get a real light.

What ??? You don't EDC a light ??!!??
And you dare post on this Forum ???

Nah,I do EDC a Pelican mytilite flashlight and two photons on my key chain.But there are those times when out in the yard just getting some air that I see something interesting and all I have on me is my cellphone and I whack myself for it
As soon as I leave though everything goes with me

heck I useta have a disposable cell phone that had a built in led I thought it was a good idea but I havent ever seen that feature on another cell phone since then

The hiker used the illuminated screen to signal the helocopter. A cell phone screen would be pretty visible from a distance in an otherwise dark enviroment, especially if NVG or IR was being used.

The milspec cell from verizon has a built in light. it think the phone is called the G'zone.

My Sony Ericsson K750i has a pretty good LED light. It's there as a camera light but it has a "flashlight mode" and also an SOS blink mode. Its relative lack of robustness, and the fact that I may have worn down the battery with calls, means it doesn't displace my ARC AAA for EDC; but it's a nice extra feature.

(Also, anything that gets non-"EDC" people to EDC a functional flashlight has to be good.)

eeph

I always carry a Photon II in my pocket, mostly in the little coin pocket that most 5 pocket jeans have. This way I always have a light, even if I don't have my regular EDC light (inova x5) that I carry in my bag.

I saw something rather clever long ago. Some kids had wandered away from a campground in (I think) Humboldt State Park. They were within hearing distance, but it got dark fast and they couldn't find their way back to their father's voice. I lent him my cheapie dying-2-D-battery flashlight, but instead of going to look for them, he just faced their voices and kept making a large circle of light in front of him by moving it quickly in a 2-ft circle with the light pointed at them. It made a larger target for them to aim for.

It has occurred to me that this would be a good idea for someone with a small light (cell phone, Photon) when they can see someone looking for them in the dark. Think?

Sue

One of the more effective uses for a chemical light in a survival situation is to tie a string to it and spin it in a circle. Much more visible for some reason.

I suspect this is because human perception of brightness (like human perception of sound volume) isn't linear, so the same amount of light spread over more of the visual field may appear brighter. Of course, you're not trying to maximise brightness so much as contrast, which complicates things.

The problem I see with spinning a photon light (as per Susan's suggestion) is that, unlike a lightstick, most of the light will go directly away from the centre of motion. It might still be better to spin it so that the plane of motion is parallel, rather than perpendicular to, the direction of the observer, but it'd be nice to have some empirical evidence.

eeph

Fortunately, I carry a couple red light sticks and paracord for a lanyard. The light sticks can be used for both light and signaling.

Thanks Matt for the info,

I have that phone and did not realize it had that feature (no, I did not read the instruction manual ). I found the button and played with the light all afternoon and evening, much to the dismay of my wife and children .

Pete

There are a couple GzOne Type phones. Neither list an LED light in the specs or features.

I have the S model.

Pete

My new SE P1i has one too, but currently there's no software to turn it on except by using the camera.

I have last years model. it came with the camera which gets used a lot for my work as a housing inspector. The light is the flash for the camera. Hold the speaker button down and the light will come on. I did not realize it had the light until a coworker showed it to me. It's really bright! used it in the backyard two weeks ago looking for my house keys. (Had to take a detour around the back of the house to avoid the skunk)

That is one of the most underrated night time signaling methods. A strobe is great, and has the added benefit of being passive. But, a simple $0.99 chem-light and $0.25 of paracord is a very effective signal… and the red chem light is probably just as visible as that cell phone’s screen.

Red is a good color choice too, visible though NVG equipped pilots using the –blue/green filters.