iPhone app saves man trapped in Haiti rubble

Tech-mad people may say they can't live without their mobile phones but it's a claim that a US filmmaker, trapped in Haiti's earthquake rubble for almost three days, can sincerely make.

Dan Woolley was filming a documentary in Port-au-Prince when the 7.0 earthquake struck the city, trapping him in the rubble where his hotel once stood and leaving him with a fractured leg and a severe gash to his head.

Woolley told MSNBC in Miami that he used his iPhone to help keep himself alive. "I had a medical app on there, so I was able to look up treatment of excessive bleeding and compound fracture."

The Jive Media Pocket First Aid and CPR app gave Mr Woolley recommendations for self-treating his injuries.

"I used my shirt to tie my leg and a sock on the back of my head. And later used it for other things, like to diagnose shock," he said.

Woolley also set his iPhone's alarm clock to go off every 20 minutes to keep him from falling asleep.

About 66 hours after the hotel collapsed, Woolley was found by a French rescue team and subsequently transported to a hospital in Florida.

- NZ HERALD ONLINE