Pretoria - In a bid to improve the response time to accidents and disasters, the City of Tshwane has introduced the what3words app to enable residents and business operators to communicate their exact location to emergency services quickly.
The City has urged residents to download the app to assist emergency personnel to locate them in a crisis. How it works is that every 3m2 of the world has been given a unique combination of three words to identify it.
Tshwane Emergency Services said it has started to use what3words app’s navigation as it was precise, and enabled emergency services to be accurately routed to the exact location of an incident.
The app was also useful in places without clear roads and number systems, such as informal settlements and rural areas.
City management said when there was an emergency, it was not always easy to communicate a location to emergency personnel.
According to the City, app users can easily be traced when they call Tshwane’s 107 emergency number. Emergency care consultants will be able to track their location using the app’s navigation system.
“In an emergency, call 107 and get the three words for your location by opening the free what3words app, tapping the current location button and reading the three words off your phone.”
Residents can download and install the app on their mobile device using the link https://w3w.page.link/n9bh.
If you do not have the what3words app, the City of Tshwane will send you an SMS with a link to show the what3words address of your current location.
Pretoria News