A man gone into cardiac arrest in his truck miles from the nearest hospital; a pregnant woman trapped in a car wreck. We've all heard that those panic inducing ads that made us want to, at least momentarily, subscribe to GM's OnStar emergency communications system. But what if the emergency were a state-wide natural disaster, prompting over 3,000 calls per hour?

This is exactly what happened as Hurricane Gustav gusted through much of the Golf Coast, forcing some 2 million people to take to the road. Anticipating a high volume of calls, OnStar beefed up its staff to more than 500 at three different calling centers. Armed with computerized maps, databases of hotels with vacancies and even locations of Red Cross emergency shelters, the CDMA-based voice and data communication service proved valuable beyond the everyday fender-benders.

According to The Detroit News, the calls were "sent to specially trained OnStar advisers, many of whom were on duty during Hurricane Katrina." "They're more prepared. They know what questions have been asked," said Brad Williams, a service manager for the automaker's motorist help line who was overseeing OnStar's response from a command center in Downtown Detroit.

Learn more about OnStar here.