Parkland Ambulance is highlighting a cell phone app which could bring emergency services to you quicker if you don’t know how to describe exactly where you are.

Spokesperson Lyle Karasiuk recommends downloading the What3Words app.  He says if you are out hiking or visiting a rural area and are trying to describe where you are, it may be difficult to explain.  What3Words can triangulate your position to within three square metres, and will give you three seemingly random words as a description.  Emergency workers then put those three words into the app and it gives directions on how to locate you.

Karasiuk says you might run into a situation where you know how to get somewhere but don’t know how to describe those rural roads and turns to someone else, and that’s where this app can help.  It also works if you are on the highway, but can’t remember how long it has been since you passed the last community.

It’s a free app, which Karasiuk believes is a handy one for emergency services, but it can also be used for every day occasions, like a precise location for meeting up with friends.