There was a happy ending when a woman and five children were found near Otford in the early hours of Saturday morning after they got lost returning from a walk in the Royal National Park.
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But a Wollongong Police spokesman said emergency services would have been able to locate the six bushwalkers much earlier if they had the Emergency Plus App on their phone.
Inspector Mark Walker said the group were returning from a day trip to the Figure Eight pools near Burning Palms Beach when they lost their way.
‘’They left the location when it became dark and they were walking back using mobile phones as torches, which isn’t advisable of course,’’ Insp Walker said.
A 21-year-old woman called triple-zero. Police responded and corresponded with the caller for awhile until the phone went flat.
‘’There were attempts made to have them download the Emergency Plus App, which would have assisted in identifying their location,’’ he said.
‘’But she was unable to...and as the phone contact was lost we were unable to pinpoint their location so a multi-agency response was activated.’’
This involved Wollongong Police assisted by State Emergency Services, Royal Fire Service, Pol Air, NSW Ambulance and Illawarra Police Rescue.
‘’At 12.35am the Police Rescue and SES set out on foot and at 1am they located the group on a track about 20 minutes from home,’’ Insp Walker said.
The group, consisting of a 21-year-old woman, a 13-year-old, a 10-year-old, an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old, were uninjured and in good spirits.
They were conveyed to Wollongong Police Station where they spent the night.
Police from Wollongong Local Area Command have appealed for groups planning to bushwalk in the area to be better prepared for the conditions they will encounter.
Police also encourage hikers to install the ‘Emergency Plus App’ on their mobile phones, which allows for swift identification of a location by emergency services