How Onstar Has Been a Lifesaver for Us

That wonderful service that comes standard on all Chevrolet cars and trucks, Onstar, has come to our aid more than once over the years. I have used it to summon an ambulance in a remote wilderness area for a stranger that broke her leg. It has come in useful in getting help for us as well.

Since we first bought our brand new Silverado truck in 2004, we have enjoyed having Onstar as our personal on board emergency center. The first year of the service was free and I continued to pay for it after that. It has the added advantage of being a satellite based service rather than a service that relies on local cell phone towers and that factor makes it invaluable.

The fact that the service is satellite based was proven to be invaluable to one woman in a wilderness state park that we were visiting a few summers ago. While enjoying the beautiful rugged terrain surrounding the river that flows through the state park, I witnessed a woman slip on some rocks near the waters edge and snap the lower part of her leg in two. There were other people around her and almost everyone tried to make a call to 911 using their cell phones. Almost everyone stated they had no signal. At that point I volunteered to go back to my truck and call 911 using Onstar. The parking lot was a short hike up the bank of the river and I made the call. Onstar put me through to the local 911 dispatcher and told me to have someone near the entrance of the park to aid the emergency vehicle locate the injured person. I went to the ranger station that was close to the parking lot for more help. Between the ranger and I, we managed to guide the emergency crew and river rescue crew to the woman with the broken leg. I was informed by the park ranger that it was the quickest response time to any emergency that they have ever had at the park. Onstar did a fantastic job.

The next time that the Onstar emergency response was needed, was a few years later when hubby locked his keys in the truck. I simply called Onstar and they unlocked the doors to the truck remotely. The last time we needed Onstar was when our truck hit a large patch of icy road and we slid into a ditch. It was Onstar to the rescue again. We also found out that when we made that call to Onstar, we got a faster response than other people who were having accidents in that ice storm. Onstar is able to give the responders to emergencies more accurate location information.

In both incidents, the woman with the broken leg and the icy road, the emergency personnel mentioned that Onstar got the fastest response times versus regular phone calls. I don't know if Onstar has a special relationship with 911 or emergnecy dispatchers but it sure does seem that way with our occurrences.

Yes, I pay extra for Onstar in our truck, but I find that it is well worth the price.