March 5, 2010 by onstarconnectioncom

Automatic Crash Response Assists First Responders

David Tomlin has been a firefighter for 15 years and with the Troutman Fire and Rescue Department in Troutman, North Carolina, for the past eight. Recently his crew received a rescue call from their dispatch center advising them that a vehicle accident on the interstate was called in by OnStar. As the crew rushed to get ready, David says at first they thought the call might possibly be a false alarm.

“Whenever there’s an accident in a busy area we usually get multiple cell phone calls about it,” he explains. “But the only call we received about an accident at 3:00 in the afternoon on a busy, busy highway was from OnStar. It didn’t seem to make sense.”

But then, David says, as they were getting their gear together, they were also receiving more information from OnStar.

Key information for first responders

In addition to giving the dispatcher the mile marker so they knew exactly where to go, OnStar also advised the dispatcher that there were multiple impact points, the car was possibly off the roadway and the driver was non-responsive. “That information was extremely valuable and helped give us a much clearer picture of what we were dealing with,” David says.

David says when they spotted the vehicle, they immediately knew why no one else had called it in. “No one must have seen the vehicle skid off the road and when it came to a stop it was wedged about 120 feet straight down a ravine. The only way we saw it was because we ride so high in our rig and we knew exactly where to look. There was no way anybody could have seen it from the road.”

The first responders went to work and got the injured driver out. David doesn’t know how badly the driver was hurt, but he says he does know that if it hadn’t been for OnStar, the driver might never have been found.

“The injured man was very fortunate he had OnStar. I don’t think anyone would ever have spotted the vehicle. OnStar has helped us out before but in this instance, OnStar definitely made all the difference. I personally believe that OnStar saved a life.”

When every second counts

With Automatic Crash Response, built-in sensors can automatically alert an OnStar Advisor who is immediately connected into your vehicle to see if you need help sent to your exact location.

Even if you don’t respond, the Advisor can use GPS technology to locate you and request that emergency help be sent right away. The Advisor can also relay critical crash information, including the type of crash and how severe it is, to help emergency responders dispatch the right help.

Watch the video for more about how David and the crew rescued the driver.

¹Visit onstar.com for vehicle availability, details and system limitations. OnStar acts as a link to existing emergency service providers.

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