I am a very light user of any tech stuff when on the hills....only a very simple phone. Not tried this but if no reception is available on my mobile I am informed that doing the 999 thing I will get switched to another provider....if available?
I guess this will by-pass the SIM card so no reply will be possible? But information of my problem will get through to the Police.
So is it Walkie-Talkies that you are talking about and maybe you can explain what the 446 channel does?
However I don't see that bending over backwards and looking into dark places will be helpful though.