[pct-l] SPOT lessons learned?

[Rick Ostheimer]

It seems to me there are several lessons to be learned from Censored's 
experience not just for Censored, but for all SPOT users, the SPOT 
organization, and the hiking community in general. 

1.  The SPOT organization needs to improve their training materials on 
how and when to use the device.  

2.  SPOT users need to communicate with their loved ones just what the 
meanings of the "Help" button are.  (Perhaps a better use for the help 
button is to communicate a cancellation of a previous 911 message.)  
They also need to discuss, before their trip, just what the recipients 
reaction should be if they omit an "I'm OK" message when they've agreed 
to send one every day.  This could have avoided a similar SAR mission 
near Fuller Ridge on May 7 last year when another hiker failed to 
communicate an "I'm OK".  Helicopters swooped down on the water fountain 
and a deputy sheriff pulled up to us as we were enjoying trail magic 
under the I-10 bridge last year looking for Brandon White.  Had we seen 
him?  Of course, we asked his trail name, but the deputy didn't 
know---turned out he didn't have on yet, but later became "Hoffa".   The 
deputy didn't think or know of  trail registers.  There was one right 
there with the trail magic  which I checked then showed him  an entry by 
Brandon W. the day before.  Your loved ones are hundreds or thousands of 
miles away.  They need to know when they should worry.  Even if you have 
every intention of sending an OK message each day, let me assure you one 
day you'll forget to and then what?

3.  PCT hikers really need to be aware of the insidious nature of 
hypothermia:  how it develops, what the signs are, just how debilitating 
or deadly it can be, and what they should do when they notice the first 
symptoms (stop, get shelter, get into warm clothes, drink/eat something 
warm).  It's also a good idea to carry a backup to the lighter.  I carry 
a few waterproof matches.

I carried a SPOT last year since I was starting very early sobo from 
Walker Pass and didn't expect to see many hikers.  In 14 days I came 
across only five or six parties of hikers between there and  Cajon 
Pass.  I figured that if something happened and I wound up with an arm 
or leg pinned under an unmovable boulder, it would be preferable to use 
the 911 function (I also subscribed to the rescue insurance) to using my 
Swiss Army Knife to hack off the pinned hand or foot.  I'm glad I had no 
emergencies that required the 911.   I also used it to communicate with 
my wife to let her know I was OK and sent a message faithfully every 
day, knowing that, if I didn't, then she might grow concerned and call 
in help.  Basically, I think it's a good "peace of mind"/insurance 
device.  If something really bad happens, they will be a way to summon 
help.  The "Help" function was, to me, useless.  It's designed to say to 
someone, "Come and help me.  I'm not in a life threatening situation, 
but I need help."  I felt the 911 function was only for truly life 
threatening situations.  If I pressed it, then search and rescue would 
be on the way.

If Censored had been thinking clearly (unlikely, since from her journal, 
it seems she was beginning to go into hypothermia even before she 
stopped to make camp) she would have realized that the Help message 
would only cause worry.  Plus she should have communicated what "Help" 
meant to those who get that message before it was needed.  Apparently 
those receiving the "Help" message were an airline flight away.  Then 
she freaked out and hit the 911, before she was able to calmly assess 
her situation.  Clearly, she probably didn't have adequate training to 
deal with the deteriorating weather conditions and to recognize the 
signs of hypothermia.  If she had, she would have probably stopped and 
made camp the first opportunity after she noticed the temperature 
plummeting.  She had plenty of gear to keep warm and a tarp and bivy to 
keep her dry.  A few degrees of temp change by continuing to hike to a 
lower elevation in the worsening weather was not worth the risk of 
further chilling.  Maybe someone could do a presentation on hypothermia 
at the kickoff.  I don't remember if there was one in '08 or not.

I sympathize with her situation as I had a similar experience on the AT 
and another in Jefferson Park on the flanks of Mt. Jefferson in OR last 
year.  In both cases I was warm enough while I was hiking, but on 
stopping, the BTU machine shut down and I started to chill.  On the AT I 
had been walking all day in a cold rain that turned to freezing rain as 
I neared the top of Tray Mtn and the shelter there.  I certainly felt 
warm enough----until I stopped in a downpour at the overfilled shelter.  
By the time I'd fetched my water I was shivering and didn't notice I 
still had my rain jacket pit zips open.  Fortunately Fiveway told me 
about the pit zips and once I started setting up my tent, the effort 
warmed me enough.  In OR, it had been cold, rainy and windy all day and 
was getting colder and had started a steady drizzle.  I realized this 
was definitely hypothermia weather and started looking for a spot to 
camp.  I passed Nitro Joe who was setting his tent up on a relatively 
"dry" spot on a bed of pine needles protected from the wind by some 
small pines.  Unfortunately, there was no extra room there so I 
continued on another 15 minutes finding another protected, "less wet" 
spot under some hemlocks.  It's a good thing I stopped then as I wrote 
in my journal,  "I was beginning to feel hypothermic as the wind picked 
up. I was having trouble using my fingers. I didn't realize they were so 
cold."  I was having trouble grasping the zipper of the tarptent.  After 
a few minutes in my sleeping bag I was warmed up enough to cook a hot 
meal including tea and was warm and toasty.

It irritated me that the SPOT would tell my wife where I was, but had no 
digital display to tell me where I was.  Somehow that wasn't in their 
original product plan.  When I got home last fall, I sent them an email 
suggesting that "failure to communicate" the location to the holder of 
the device was a flaw---especially since with its Li batteries it ways a 
full half pound.  Interestingly, I received a survey from SPOT which 
indicates the second generation of the device may provide a digital display.

The SPOT is designed to communicate a 911 message whether or not it has 
a GPS fix and will continue to send 911 messages until it is turned off 
once the 911 button is pushed.  I'm not sure whether it continues to try 
for a better GPS fix while it is continuing to communicate the 911 
messages.  Fortunately the 911 button is recessed so unlikely to be 
accidentally pushed.  If it's communicating an inaccurate GPS fix as 
described, perhaps the next generation needs to verify satellite 
acquisition and also send the number of satellites contacted and 
accuracy estimate as displayed by most GPS devices.  The SPOT also needs 
a better GPS antenna and/or the more sensitive GPS chip set.  Mine 
doesn't get a fix under heavy tree cover in NW PA.

Obviously, the SPOT response center needs to provide the history of 
recent OK message GPS fixes, if there are any, along with the GPS fix of 
the 911 message to the SAR folks.  All this information should be 
readily available in their computer systems.  If not, then they too need 
reprogrammed.  I plan to follow up on this.

The SPOT device requires online activation to enable its functionality.  
Perhaps the activation could be designed to show show owners videos to 
illustrate the use of the various features and require they are viewed 
before registration takes place----via a link from the video to the 
registration rather than a button to "Accept the agreement" which nobody 
really reads.

Handlebar

Linda wrote:

If the GPS/SPOT is only picking up two satellites (because it hasn't had 
time to get more, or there are mountains, trees, heavy precip, or something 
else blocking or distorting the signals) it can only pinpoint its location 
down to two possible positions.   Any GPS needs contact with three 
satellites to triangulate it down to one position, and more and/or WAAS to 
get you down to less than 10 meter accuracy. So, if you turned SPOT on and 
hit the emergency button right away, or didn't have a clear view of enough 
satellites, it seems like it could possibly transmit a wrong location. 
Maybe this device might be a little bit more useful if it displayed your 
coordinates so you could check on your map that it was actually going to be 
sending the EMT's to your correct location... and maybe then you wouldn't 
even need to call 911.