[pct-l] SPOT usage & SR difficulty

[Don Billings]

I have a first generation SPOT which, true to reputation, often fails to transmit from under tree cover or in narrow canyons. The second generation SPOT just recently 
came out & they're already going through a REcall for some defect. (hope nobody was needing their second gen unit before that issue surfaced). I haven't heard yet whether the second generation's antenna has been improved as gps units were improved with WASS.

But, as far as the "help" vs. the "911" .... I've wondered about the best protocol to set up with my contact back home.

"911" is a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. I'm in trouble and can't continue or medical emergency or out of water x days.

The "Okay" button is also a no brainer as I use that often just to post my location to my contacts.

But the "Help" button... they leave it open as to how you want to use it despite the designation "help."

Anyone else have ideas on how to use that function to make it more usable and more clear for the hiker?

A secondary issue just came to my attention. A man who was having a seizure used his "911" to call for help on the PCT. The unit transmitted okay and the coordinates were received okay as is supposed to happen... but the S&R team in their report mentioned that the "datum" was different than their own units and there was some delay in their response while they sifted through several options to get the proper gps reading of the victim. Anyone know anything about this issue ?





----- Original Message ----
From: Austin Williams <austinwilliams123 at gmail.com>
To: Len Glassner <len5742 at gmail.com>; pct-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Tue, January 26, 2010 6:54:45 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Circumstances that warrant hitting the SPOT 911 button

I gave this a lot of thought when I got lost in glacier peak wilderness and
had to bailout.  30 miles of bushwhacking gets pretty tiring.

I had a SPOT.  I decided I wouldn't press the 911 button unless I had broken
something AND it was bad enough that I couldn't still keep stumbling along
with the help of my trekking poles.  But I'm young and somewhat stubborn.

An interesting side note: In that situation I couldn't decide whether or not
to hit the "okay" button.  I was lost in the wilderness (kind of...  I mean,
I knew where I was generally, and what direction I was heading.  I just
didn't know where civilization was due to the limited scope of my maps).  My
support person knew the "help" button meant "standby for a phone call, I
probably need some special supplies sent".  I decided not to press
anything.  It worked well.

Had I been lost for more than 2 days I would have pressed the "okay" button
(so there would be some record of where I was).  I'm confident in my
survival skills, so I would have given myself about 4 or 5 days of being
lost and trying to find civilization before I pressed the "911" button.  Or
sooner if I fell down one of the waterfalls I had to descend and broken
something important.... and managed to live.

I think whether or not I'd press the button for another hiker would depend a
lot on the other hiker and his/her state-of-mind.  If I thought we could
work together to get him/her to safety ourselves, then I'd let S&R sleep in
that day.



On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 5:28 PM, Len Glassner <len5742 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Generalized criteria?
>
> It almost seems that if you still have the presence of mind to use
> 911, then you're not in bad enough shape.
>
> I guess if you're unable to move (i.e., broken leg), then?  And have
> also fallen off the trail?  Or do you blow your whistle and wait for
> other hikers to come along for xx hours, and reevaluate?
>
> If you're really hypothermic, then SPOT won't occur to you.
>
> Lost for xx days?
>
> Use only for other disabled hikers, not for yourself?
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-- 
Austin Williams
PlanYourHike.com

"The mountains are calling and I must go."   -John Muir
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