Florence sheriff credits iPhone for saving teenager from recent accident

FLORENCE, Wis. — Florence County Sheriff Teresa Chrisman shared information Tuesday about an Oct. 17 accident in Fence, Wis., that she said illustrates the value of accident detection software.

Austin Mills, 18, was seriously injured in the single-vehicle crash and remains in the intensive care unit at Aurora BayCare in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he is trying to recover, the sheriff said.

The Florence County Dispatch Center was notified of the crash on Highway 101 near the Popple River at 5:55 a.m. via an automated message from an Apple iPhone indicating that the owner of the phone was unresponsive.

Emergency crews arrived on scene and found Mills had a serious head injury and the vehicle had significant damage after it had left the road and rolled, Chrisman said in a Facebook post.

“Following the investigation, it was determined that he was not wearing a seat belt and it appears that he was trying to avoid hitting the deer,” he added. Chrisman said.

Mills was taken to Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson and then airlifted to a hospital in Green Bay.

“I truly believe that the accident detection software enabled on Austin’s phone saved his life.” Chrisman said.

“This iPhone accident detection feature uses a combination of sensors to detect serious car accidents and automatically summon emergency services. Sometimes as parents we hate phones and how often teenagers are connected to them, but every teenager and adult should have this feature enabled on their phone.” – said the sheriff.

Florence County Fence Fire Department, Florence County Rescue and Integrity Care EMS officers assisted at the scene.