What does Emergency Mode do?

[rangie]

There was a bad car crash right in front of me today and I had to dial 911. It's a stretch of road with no street numbers and I was having some trouble explaining exactly where we were to the 911 operator. I knew the road I was on and the fact I was north of a well known landmark but I wasn't sure how far or even which town I was in at that point. The medics got there within a few minutes, which was good because things were bad and getting worse.

I'm wondering if the GPS saved me here? After things were over, the next time I looked at my phone it said it was in "Emergency Mode" and I had a menu button to exit. I assume that means it's allowing access to the GPS? Or is it something else?