North Yorkshire Police have embraced a new location-sharing technology

what3words helps police locate people quickly when they are in difficult situations.
Emergency services use what3words to locate people in difficultyEmergency services use what3words to locate people in difficulty
Emergency services use what3words to locate people in difficulty

The app makes finding people in places without addresses such as parks, beaches or crowded festivals simple.

what3words has divided the globe into a grid of 3m x 3m squares, giving each one a unique three-word address. For example, the front door to the Scarborough News office can be found at ///quick.bakers.upwardly.

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The technology is rapidly being embraced by emergency services across the country. In West Yorkshire, what3words was used to locate man who had fallen down a railway embankment.

The emergency services are encouraging the use of the hand-held appThe emergency services are encouraging the use of the hand-held app
The emergency services are encouraging the use of the hand-held app

On another occasion, a West Yorkshire Police call handler used the technology to quickly assist a caller.

The call handler said: “I used what3words recently whilst working in the contact centre taking 999 calls.

“A call was received from a member of the public who witnessed a road traffic collision which blocked the entire road.

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“There was also a damaged lamp-post creating a danger to members of the public. The caller didn’t know their location, so I sent them the text, she followed my instructions on what to do and read me her what3words location.

“I was then able to identify where she was and ensured an emergency response was deployed to her exact location.”

The what3words can be downloaded for free for iOS and Android.