I ran across this article on MSN. It tells how a climber on Oregon's Mount Hood fell into a 100 foot crevasse, suffered a broken arm and broken ribs, then used his cell phone to call for help. (I wonder who his cellular service is with...)

His partner wasn't so lucky though.

msn.com

100 feet. Ouch! That man owes his life to his cell phone...

Actually I thought occurs to me from your post. I don't know if this is different in America but in Britain mobile phones, while set to a certain provider can make emergency calls using ANY service provider. As in you can dial 999, 911, 112 whatever is applicable assuming you are within range of any services towers. So while I can't use my phone normally in Europe or in certain areas of Britain I can pretty much always dial an emergency number (its only been a few times that I have been out of range of ANY service provider). I'm assuming thats the case in America as well (but don't know), but I bet that simple policy has saved a number of lives.

wheather you got a sim card in it or not, you can always call 112 in holland with a mobile, unless you'r out of range ofcorse... but than again holland it pretty small.

Yah, but I don't think Holland has many 100 foot crevasses.

Nor any hills that high! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I had also heard that you can call 911 even if your service has been turned off.

Does anyone know if this is true?

Sue

Yes, you can. There's even companies selling old outdated phones *just* for use in calling 911.

I found this consumer report worth reading though:

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/deta...older_id=162691

I had heard the "rumor" of utilizing a cell phone, that had disconnected service, to call 911. Since I had no way of verifying it I called 911 (with serious reservations). My call was immediately connected to the 911 operator and I quickly stated what I was testing and apologized for the call. In less than a minute I had my answer. I now carry "backup" cell phones, no longer in service, in both cars.

One Day Closer

Well, that would not have saved him here in Bucks County, PA. Up here in the north end of the county, there's plenty - I mean PLENTY of places where there's no cell service at all.

In fact, we did a rescue job at Ringing Rocks Park - not to far from us - a woman fell and broke her ankle and her friend tried to call 911, no service at all.

It's not like we're in the Nevada desert here, we're in a semi-rural/low density suburban area, but there's really, really poor coverage.

In the UK, the ability to make emergency calls on any network is restricted to phones with valid SIM cards.

There are many areas in and near Los Angeles where there is no cell coverage. I have AT&T, and when I am on the bridge over one of the busiest freeway intersections in the world (the 405 and the 10), my cell service drops completely out.

There are plenty of places here that are the same way and the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area has a combined population of well over five million people. I even in Manhatten there are apparently bad or no coverage areas because my father's cell cuts out all the time when I'm talking to him. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Pretty ironic when you think about it. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You can also make credit card calls when the service provider doesn't find your account in the database. It takes a lot of key presses to navigate the menu and to enter your card and expiration date, but it works.

One thing to keep in mind, for those in the US, is that different providers use different technology. Cingular, AT&T & TMobile all use the same - GSM. Sprint and Verizon each use something else. So, if you have say TMobile and are in an area that only has Sprint and or Verizon coverage, you're out of luck. The technologies are not curently compatible. Wether they are really not compatible or the various companies have decided that they wont be compatible, I don't know. Hope this makes sense, I'm fighting a nasty cold and having trouble keeping my thoughts straight.

Leo