GPS Technology Helped Crews in Rescue Operation

That the GPS technology is a blessing and a technology that has come to help humanity is not an overstatement. In crucial moment, it has become the only device that proved to be so helpful most especially during emergency.

And again, the technology has proved its worth when emergency crews were able to locate a diabetic woman who was stranded in Rock County during the weekend.

It happened that Tammy Wescott had already prepared for work and was driving on the road when she went off the road and into a wooded area in Janesville. She said she was confused and disoriented, but was conscious enough to call her dad who kept her on the phone while her mother called 911.

"We have a medical emergency. My daughter is diabetic and was on her way to work," Wescott's mother told 911 operators. "She's parked on the side of the road somewhere, and nobody can find her."

Dispatcher Gina Shippee convinced Wescott's mother to have her daughter call 911 so they could use GPS with her cell phone to get her location. A minute later, Wescott called.

"I'm off the road, I'm off County (Highway) J somewhere," Tammy Wescott said in her 911 call.

"OK, Tammy, I'm going to try to locate you with your GPS," the emergency dispatcher said to her.

Within seconds, Tammy Wescott's location had been mapped. She had veered off the road quite a distance, but technology and a quick-thinking dispatcher might have saved her life.

Within seven minutes, rescue crews had located her.

Wescott said that she suffered some minor injuries and was transported to a hospital on Saturday morning. She said that she's doing just fine now, and is very grateful and impressed how crews were able to locate her.

Rock County authorities said that it's not the first time they've used the technology to find a victim, but this was a perfect example of why it's so valuable.