Police are urging people to download an app that could mean the difference between life and death.
what3words is a revolutionary way to communicate people’s location, which is vital in an emergency.
He divided the world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares, and each square was given a unique combination of three words – a what3words address.
What three words are known about the exact location from the motorway to remote areas?
The app is free to download for both iOS and Android and works completely offline – making it ideal for use in areas of the UK with an unreliable data connection, such as country back roads and motorways.
The app is now used by over 85 per cent of the UK’s emergency services – police, fire and ambulance – and has become an important tool in the emergency toolkit.
While not intended to replace traditional safety gear, the technology is saving valuable time and resources for dispatchers and emergency responders.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “‘Where is the emergency?’ is one of the first questions you are asked when calling 999 but it can be challenging to describe exactly where you are.
“Emergencies can happen anywhere, from a remote field in rural Wales, to the side of the M1, or the center of Hyde Park.
“Services often can’t automatically detect where you are and it’s hard to explain a dropped pin over the phone.
“Landmark-based reports are prone to errors and GPS coordinates are long and difficult to convey.
“At best, this is a frustrating strain on resources.
“In a worst-case scenario, this can mean the difference between life and death.
“Emergency services are trained to collect as much location information as possible from callers and have access to a number of different technologies and methods that help them identify callers’ locations – one of which is 3word.
“What3words is used frequently to help us ensure that our resources are sent directly when help is needed, quickly.”
Read more: Royal Bolton Hospital patients stayed in the corridors for 12 hours
Read more: Bolton: Police are appealing to residents to help find a man
Superintendent Gareth Parkin from GMP’s Safer Transport Team said: “Greater Manchester Police have been working with what3words with great success and in some cases saving lives for critical incidents in remote locations or areas that are difficult to identify.
“what3words is amazing and I strongly recommend that those who have access to a mobile phone or tablet download the app and if you need to pinpoint your exact location down to the specific coordinate you can rest easy knowing that we that is you will know exactly where you are and you can get the support you need quickly.
“Sometimes it’s difficult and very painful when you don’t know where you are, or if you can’t find help or if you can describe where you are.
“If you were to call us in an emergency, you can say your three simple words to our GMP call handlers and we will be able to tell our officers and other emergency services where to go.”