Using your iPhone to save your life
39-year-old Dan Woolley of Colorado Springs, CO owes his iPhone a huge debt of gratitude because it saved his life.
Woolley, a film producer who was in Haiti filming a documentary on the nation's poverty-stricken children, became trapped in an elevator shaft for 65 hours when the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince collapsed after the Haiti earthquake struck last week.
Ever resourceful, Woolley used the light from his iPhone to diagnose his injuries, a medical app* to treat injuries to his foot and head, the alarm clock to keep him from going into shock, then he used the phone’s camera to map his surroundings and identify a safer location to await rescue.
*The in question is believed to be Pocket First Aid and CPR (App Store, $3.99), according to Wired. An App Store review by “Webguydan” reads:
Consulted this app, while trapped under Hotel Montana in Haiti earthquake, to treat excessive bleeding and shock. Helped me stay alive till I was rescued 64 hours later.
TUAW notes that there are several First Aid apps in the App Store, including The US Army First Aid Manual (App Store, $1.99), Survival Guide (App Store, $1.99), WebMD Mobile (App Store, free) and CPR Hero (App Store, free). I also recommend Phone Aid (App Store, $1.99) because it includes infant CPR.
Woolley is recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.