HORSEHEADS, N.Y. (WETM) – Officials in Horseheads are crediting, in part, the “What3Words” geo-location service as the reason why a man who drove into Newtown Creek was successfully rescued last week, as well as the quick actions of first responders.

Town and Country Fire and the Chemung County Sheriff’s Office responded to a person lost in the woods between Sun Valley Drive and SR13 around 3:45 p.m. on April 4. According to the sheriff’s report, the man had driven from the nearby Byrne Dairy onto Main Street then turned onto a dirt road and ended up in the creek and was injured.

The man was reportedly unable to provide an exact location when he called 911, but T&C and the Sheriff’s Office said that Chemung County 911 used the “What3Words” location generated by his cellphone to find him.

The man was stuck in the woods but had a medical issue that prevented him from walking to get help.

EMS also responded, and it took about 20 minutes to get the man out of the woods, T&C said. The man was eventually flown to Robert Packer Hospital and later released. The

Town & Country said, “This outcome would not have been possible without the EMS system as a whole. Beginning with the Chemung County 911 operator and ending with the Doctors and Nurses at the trauma center.”

What3Words is a system that creates a unique three-word code for specific geographic coordinates. For example, the center of Hanover Square in Horseheads is coded “charge.mute.firmly.”

The system was implemented in Schuyler County in early 2022. Officials at the time called it a game-changer for the county.