[pct-l] Yuppie 911

[Eric Lee]

Matt wrote:
>
Move this timeline up ten or fifteen hours and suddenly there aren't a
couple of very lonely people concerned that they may be sharing a death
experience.
>

I don't think anyone except hardcore Luddites would argue that emergency
beacons like the Spot have no value or should never be carried.  Of course
they have huge value in those cases of freak accidents where it really is a
matter of life or death.

The problem is that human nature, being human nature, invariably screws
things up and dilutes that value.  As devices like the Spot become even more
affordable and much more ubiquitous, *something* is going to have to change
otherwise SAR will become physically incapable of responding to all calls.
It does you no good to have an emergency beacon when you're dying on a
granite ledge if SAR can't give you a prompt response because they're off
fixing someone's salty water, or if they simply won't respond promptly
because they're tired of the false alarms.

We have the same problem with the cellphone-based 911 system, of course.  In
that case, the problem is mitigated (though not solved) by three factors:
one, dispatchers have two-way voice communication and can weed out obvious
abuses, two, cell service is not available in the majority of wilderness
areas and those areas where it's available tend to be easy for SAR to
access, and three, people have been somewhat trained not to abuse 911 (with
possible legal consequences if they don't get the hint).

I think for emergency locator beacons, the most effective short-term fix
would be to attach a modest but significant fee to any use of the emergency
function.  Say, $500.  Maybe make it waivable in cases where SAR determines
it was a valid emergency.

Eric