Eastern Sierra News
Written by Tom Woods Wednesday, 06 January 2010 16:37
A new device known as a SPOT Satellite Messenger, which essentially sends out a call for help, is growing in popularity with those who play in the outdoors, but the devices are less popular with those who are charged with rescuing the people who activate the SPOT.
Called the “yuppie 911,” by some, the “mantenna,” by others, the SPOT device fits in the palm of your hand and can send out a distress call via satellite at the push of a button. The SPOT also has a tracking function that allows a family member sitting at home to track the progress of their loved one as they hike or bike through the outdoors.
Rescuers note a few problems with the devices. First there is a concern that the ease of calling for help with a SPOT device will lead to false calls, essentially “crying wolf” via high technology. This has already happened statewide and locally. Matt Scharper with the California Office of Emergency Services reports that since June of 2008, there have been 25 SPOT activations in California. Of those 25, 6 were accidental, and 3 could have self-rescued, Scharper says.
In Mono County, Pete DeGeorge with the Mono Sheriff’s Department reports that the SAR team responded to three SPOT activations in Mono County in 2009. Only one SPOT activation for hikers stranded near Convict Lake was a legitimate call. Inyo County has seen false calls along with people in real distress. Inyo Sheriff SAR Coordinator Terry Waterbury reports that there was a case of a woman backpacking near Ash Meadows who pressed the 911 function as a snow storm moved in at night, but then hiked out on her own the next morning. Waterbury recalled another SPOT activation in the same area that also resulted in a self-rescue after the man pressed the button. There has been at least one legit SPOT activation in Inyo County, a youth with severe altitude sickness was flown out of the back-country by helicopter after a SPOT activation.
When a person pushes the 911 button, the call is routed to the local agency responsible for rescue but there is also a “help” function that is designed to notify friends and family that the user needs assistance but does not need an official Search and Rescue response. The problem that SAR officials see with this function is that when a person presses the “help” button, the family and friends just end up calling SAR anyway, rather than trying to deal with the situation themselves.
Limited communication is another problem with the devices. When a person presses 911 or “help” the rescuer who receives the message has no idea what is wrong. Is there a medical emergency? Does the victim simply have car trouble? There are no details beyond the fact that there is a problem and a location of the victim.
Despite the limitations of the SPOT device, SAR officials see the devices as useful as long as they are used properly. Matt Scharper says that the company that manufactures the SPOT should do a better job of educating their customers. Pushing the 911 button does not guarantee that a helicopter will come to pick up the user. “This is not a taxi device,” he says.
With more and more outdoor recreationalists using the SPOT - from hikers to hunters to off highway vehicle users - SAR officials expect to see more calls from the SPOT in the future.
Subscribe to this comment's feedwritten by Wayne Deja , January 06, 2010
written by Ché , January 06, 2010
I have a Spot mantenna. Spot was a present because I am getting older and there is some concern about wandering the Inyo Valley, having a heart attack, being out of cell phone coverage, and being forced to search for the corpse or wait for a judge to declare death after seven years.
Saying that Spot needs better user instruction is misdirected. Spot's analog instruction manual, digital instruction manual, website, videos, telephone support, and labels on the machine itself are excellent and in many languages. The excuse that the user didn't know the difference between "911" and "Help" is PEBSAH (problem exists between Spot and hat). The willfully ignorant users should be charged (fiscally) and charged (physically). It's rather like calling 911 when you only get six Chicken Mac Nuggets. It's rather like someone who purchases a firearm, never reads the manuals, never takes classes, never practices, then takes the gun out and shoots themselves or someone else, and then demands that guns be banned. Willful ignorance is not an excuse for abuse. Blaming the conscientious manufacturer for the user's willful ignorance is unjustified.
SAR should charge Spot for advertising. My Spot doesn't work. There is no coverage in my house. There is no coverage along the river or at the reservoir or inside a vehicle or walking around Bishop. The Spot people said to ensure Spot has a clear, unobstructed view of the southern sky. (Oh, yeah. I'm gonna go climb a rock that only has an unobstructed, southern-facing wall.) Well, in Bishop, I'm not sure, but I think there's about a hundred miles of clear, unobstructed, southern view. When I select "OK", Spot fails. When I select track function, Spot fails. I cannot depend upon my Spot. If someone's Spot actually worked, SAR should contact Spot and ask for payment for proof of an actual working Spot. The survivor should charge them as a living endorsement of the one time Spot worked.
Don't blame the Spot people for the willfully, intentionally, perpetually ignorant users, and, the Spot people should pay for the rescue.
written by erik simpson , January 07, 2010
In any event, go over with your contacts to establish what a "help" message might mean, and DON'T USE THE 911 FEATURE UNLESS THINGS ARE REALLY SERIOUS. Rescue operations can put others at risk. Rescue yourself if you can; after all, you got yourself there.
written by Laura , January 07, 2010
written by Rob Baffrey , January 07, 2010
Maybe a satellite phone is better, but they aren't cheap and I imagine they're heavier. I am a defender of SPOT so far. It has worked well for me and I've heard first hand accounts of it saving lives in the back country. Of the rangers I have spoken to about this device, their concern is that someone will get a blister or get tired and decide they want to be rescued.
So if you have one, learn how to use it. It looks simple enough, but you have to read the instruction manual. There are only 4 buttons, but 3 of them have two functions depending on how long you hold the button down. Different colored LED light flashes mean different things. You really have to inform your HELP team what to do in the event they receive a help call. First thing for them to do is all be on the same page.
Sure are a lot of haters of this unit out there. Maybe if they had experience with a unit (and knew how to use it) before bashing it and the SPOT company, they'd have a slightly different view of it.
written by Wayne Deja , January 08, 2010
written by Scrooge , January 08, 2010
Last time I checked, SAR is by and large composed of volunteers from the community...I'd hardly consider them government(even though they operate under the guise of the Sheriff's department) and I'm glad they do what they do.
Nobody wants to have to be rescued by SAR...However, if you have the attitude that "NOTHING will ever happen to me", chances are you'll screw up somewhere and SAR will be coming to save your life someday. In the back country, no matter how well prepared you are, sh*t occasionally happens that is beyond the scope of self rescue or by rescue from your friends/relatives, that is unless they have a helo or wheeled litter that can pick you up off the side of a mountain after you sustained life threatening injuries...
And, whenever you go off the beaten path, everything changes...Complacency and arrogance won't save your a@@ when the unexpected happens. Sure I tell my friend/significant other where I'm headed...However, If I don't comeback, chances are I'm royally screwed and whatever resources they have probably aren't going to cut it...Then again, my idea of adventure is probably way beyond the scope of the average back country adventurer...
written by Wayne Deja , January 12, 2010
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