[pct-l] Emergency Devices

[Paul Robison]

I in no way want to propogate fear;  as the one thing 2010 taught me is the 
trail is not one tenth as dangerous as i had thought it would be  (being from 
british columbia the snow covered mountains are home to us;  i've been using ice 
axes a long time).

...i'm sure it's been said before, but it seemed a good time to say again...  
when you get to a bad crossing or a steep and icey section,  hold up until 
you're not alone.  if you really need SAR there's a chance you won't be able to 
make the call.  hiking alone is a lot of fun, and an important part of setting 
your own pace...  but there's truth to the statement 'safety in numbers'.  if 
you slide off a hillside,  don't think people an hour later will see you down 
there... they could walk right by.  All of this prefaced with,  'in the UNLIKELY 
event of an emergency'.

Guys, keep me posted if you find details on any good sat phone plans.  though 
currently i'm going to be hiking with the SPOT2 and a standard cell phone.

~Paul





________________________________
From: "ned at mountaineducation.org" <ned at mountaineducation.org>
To: Gary Wright <gwtmp01 at mac.com>; Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com>
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Tue, November 30, 2010 3:18:09 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Emergency Devices

 
Gary, 
 
The other thing you can do is, if you have a  reliable contact person at home 
who is likely to be reached by sat phone at any  time of day, leave the list of 
SAR units or Sheriff Departments along your route  with him/her so they can call 
and take care of all the details for you. However,  most SAR commanders will 
want to talk to you personally to "feel" from you the  importance of your need, 
how you are doing, and where you need to move to (if  you can) to facilitate 
your extraction. Thus, the sat phone with the Sheriff's  numbers is the quickest 
for your own rescue or that of any one you come across  along the trail.
 
 

"Just remember, Be Careful out there!"
 
Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
1106A Ski Run Blvd
South  Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P:  888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C:  530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org
----- Original Message ----- 
>From: Gary Wright 
>To: Paul Robison 
>Cc: ned at mountaineducation.org ; pct-l at backcountry.net 
>Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 11:18    AM
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] Emergency    Devices
>
>
>
>On Nov 30, 2010, at 2:12 PM, Paul Robison wrote:
>
>in this case,
>>
>>a call is placed to the SPOT      call center with your GPS coordinates, from 
>>there a human determines who to      call,  police, SAR, coast guard, etc.  and 
>>will get to the right      agency to help you.
>>
I was asking about sat phones, though.  I understand how    PLBs and SPOT work, 
but they are designed from the ground up to be tied into    the search and 
rescue infrastructure. A sat phone is a more general device    though and I was 
wondering how it would work in an emergency situation (i.e.    what are 
appropriate expectations and what preparations should occur    beforehand to 
ensure it was useful in an emergency in the backcountry).
>
>
>Radar
>
>
>
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