Body camera video from a Martin County police officer shows officers rescuing a driver who had fallen into a canal and his vehicle was submerged in water.
Officers arrived at the scene after the driver’s mobile phone sent an emergency signal, thanks to an automated alert system.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said 911 operators were alerted early Wednesday after the crash because the driver’s phone sent the alert with location coordinates.
Using the coordinates, officers drove to the site and found the car overturned in the dark in the murky waters of the canal, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies could hear the injured man asking for help and jumped into the water to help him out of the car.
“Okay mate, I got you, we’ll find a way in,” an officer can be heard saying to the driver in the video. “Stay away from the window man, I’ll break it, okay?”
The injured man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery.
Officers said the man told them he ended up in the water after trying to avoid an animal in the road.
“We would like to commend our brave (911) deputies and dispatchers for their perseverance and courage in locating and rescuing this accident victim using only the coordinates automatically posted by the victim’s phone,” said the sheriff’s office in a statement. . “Incredible technology and incredible work.”