SPOT abuse

I was just reading a story about the family of the skipper of the boat that ran aground on the coronado's couple years back, suing SPOT and amazon where they bought it anyway here's an interesting read about where technology is heading and how these devices can be misused.


THE proliferation of cellphones, satellite phones, emergency locator devices, GPS, and similar technology has led to an epidemic of backcountry rescues for people who have called for help they don’t need, risking the lives of rescuers in the process.

Search-and-rescue outfits around the country are grappling regularly with “false alerts” and novices’ getting in over their heads because they think gadgetry guarantees safety. More and more folks are carrying personal locator beacons, or P.L.B.’s, into the backcountry. With the push of a button they can send out an emergency distress signal, but no information about their predicament.

Matt Scharper, search and rescue coordinator for the California Emergency Management Agency, calls the locator beacons “yuppie 911’s,” adding, “You send a message to a satellite and the government pulls your butt out of something you shouldn’t have been in in the first place.” Nick Parker, a veteran of 45 years of wilderness rescues in Alaska, said in an e-mail: “The real issue is one of training (or lack thereof), and of our dependence on gizmos to save us. People expect a rescue in the same way they expect a fire engine or ambulance to come when they dial 911.”

Consider the case that unfolded in the Grand Canyon in 2009. Four hikers in a remote part of the canyon pushed the emergency help button on their SPOT satellite tracking device. When rangers helicoptered in the next day, the hikers declined evacuation, saying they were worried about running short of water. The next day the hikers pushed the button again. Another copter team arrived, to hear the complaint that the water the men had “tasted salty.” On the third day, the gang pushed their button a third time. Fed up, the rangers loaded the miscreants onto the helicopter. The group’s leader was cited for creating a hazardous condition.

Though few instances are quite so outrageous as the Grand Canyon fiasco, false alerts are becoming commonplace. In 2010, there was a rash of rescue calls in Grand Teton National Park, with hikers asking for help down the mountain. One asked that hot chocolate be flown in.

Last October in Yosemite, several hikers on the Cables route on Half Dome pushed on in the face of a gathering lightning storm. On the summit, hypothermic, they called for a helicopter rescue, only to be told that the rangers couldn’t fly in such weather. “I was freaking out and thought I wasn’t going to make it,” one of the stranded men later said. The next day, 20 hikers on Half Dome called 911 to ask for a rescue in similar conditions.

In some European countries, inexpensive rescue insurance covers the costs of all rescues, while in others, those rescued must pay for the help, especially when “victims” are thought to have been negligent or to have cried wolf. But in the United States, charging hikers or boaters for unnecessary rescues is an option seldom pursued. “We don’t want people not to call for a rescue because they think they can’t afford it. Then they’re likely to get into deeper trouble and trigger a more dangerous rescue,” says Jeff Sparhawk, public information officer for the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, a search-and-rescue team based in Boulder, Colo.

Despite his cynicism about “yuppie 911’s,” Mr. Scharper sees a silver lining. “P.L.B.’s have saved a lot of lives,” he says. “And as the technology develops, the problem will partly solve itself. Instead of a ‘911 hangup’ ”— a beeping distress signal attached to GPS coordinates — “we’ll be able to text back and forth. We’ll be able to talk a lost hiker back to safety without going out to get him, or putting any rescuers at risk.”

As a longtime mountaineer and teacher of wilderness skills, I’m more pessimistic. I believe that the “gizmos” are not themselves to blame for unnecessary rescues — the problem is that the devices have engendered a radical shift in the concept of adventure. Hikers, skiers and boaters not only expect to be whisked to safety at the push of a button, they regard this luxury as an inalienable right. In Wyoming in January 2010, a skier at Grand Targhee ventured out of bounds at the resort, got lost, sent out a cellphone distress call, but died of hypothermia. Despite a heroic effort by the Teton County Search and Rescue team, his heirs sued the team for $5 million.

Far more people are now venturing into the backcountry without even minimal survival skills. Many carry gadgets they think of as get-out-of-jail-free cards. More of them than ever before will be rescued from their own incompetence. And too many of their rescuers will be endangered, injured or even killed.

David Roberts is a mountaineer and the author of more than 20 books about adventure and Western history.
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on August 14, 2012, on page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: When GPS Leads to S O S.

In fact, I'll be sending out an SOS from the bar in La Fonda around 6PM tonight.

So when I run out of Pacifico on Shell Island, I can't SOS for more???

don't know about that but congratulations SUPER nomad!

Quote:

Originally posted by Ateo In fact, I'll be sending out an SOS from the bar in La Fonda around 6PM tonight.

I'm a better doer then a watcher.
If a nomad doesn't take a Spot or do a trip report did they take the trip?

Quote:

Originally posted by MMc I'm a better doer then a watcher. If a nomad doesn't take a Spot or do a trip report did they take the trip?

if they don't take a picture of the taco, did they eat it?

Most people using Spot, including myself, are mainly interested in keeping friends and family informed as to their whereabouts as they travel. If you were to disappear, as has happened in the last few cases, at least they would know where to start looking. In the states, you could expect help from the Coast Guard, or nearest Sheriffs dept. In Baja, the nomads would find you pretty quickly with that information.

Very often, they are. I remember a river canoeist activating PLB twice, a device somewhat similar to Spot. First time he's got stranded due to heavy weather in the fall and was about to run out of food. When chopper arrived, the guy was well fed, healthy, and with a food supply still for a few days. He was just being "cautious" . Rangers airlifted him, explained him what "emergency" meant, and warned to bill him next time.

So next time he went in spring to retrieve the canoe, planning to hike there a week and then a day paddle down the river. When he came, the canoe wasn't there, and he couldn't hike back - don't remember why, probably didn't have enough food for a week hike, counting on a day paddle instead. So he SOS-d the chopper again. This time they were mad, told him that it was intentional and again not an emergency, and billed him.

Quote:

Originally posted by LancairDriver Most people using Spot, including myself, are mainly interested in keeping friends and family informed as to their whereabouts as they travel. If you were to disappear, as has happened in the last few cases, at least they would know where to start looking. In the states, you could expect help from the Coast Guard, or nearest Sheriffs dept. In Baja, the nomads would find you pretty quickly with that information.

Quote:

Originally posted by TW Quote: Originally posted by LancairDriver Most people using Spot, including myself, are mainly interested in keeping friends and family informed as to their whereabouts as they travel. If you were to disappear, as has happened in the last few cases, at least they would know where to start looking. In the states, you could expect help from the Coast Guard, or nearest Sheriffs dept. In Baja, the nomads would find you pretty quickly with that information. ditto

Right. Ensenada cemetery

[Edited on 3-30-2014 by Alm]

Wow.... I guess you don't believe in purchasing house fire and theft insurance, vehicle insurance or life insurance due to accidental death?

Like the majority of SPOT subscribers, we all have back up plans and contingency plans. If I am forced into pressing the 911 button, you can be rest assured that either one of my buddies or myself is in a life threatening situation that requires immediate evacuation. Most of my buddies are effective in administrating first aid and would only push that button if we deemed it absolutely necessary. We would also try all other means to save a life, including trying a cellular phone, vhf radio, send a rider for help etc etc.

By the way, I am a former search and rescue volunteer, my son is an active volunteer, and another is a paramedic.
Also, we all have kids to come home to at the end of our excursions.

Did I stir the pot????

Kid, a different point of view of MMC is due to a different situation - though not unusual one.

When there are no children why would one need accidental death insurance? To keep a wife waiting and anticipating when old and useless hubby would suddenly make her rich?

He is right that people should better not count on timely rescue in places like Mexico, especially when there is no support team to step up immediately. It's more important to invest in learning taking care of yourself because this you will need, while pre-paid rescue may or may not come in time.

Still, having some means to send a distress signal is a must, if you are pursuing dangerous activities in remote locations. Subscription to tracking service of Spot is not it. 911 button of Spot - maybe. Email protocol of Spot, same as any email, is not the most reliable way though. Or PLB. Or sat phone.

I'm a believer in insurance, but trying to keep donations to this "church" to bare minimum. Have had enough of bad experience with insurers.

[Edited on 3-31-2014 by Alm]

Quote:

Originally posted by EnsenadaDr Hey Ateo I thought your preference was Poco Cielo? Quote: Originally posted by Ateo In fact, I'll be sending out an SOS from the bar in La Fonda around 6PM tonight.

"Guess I'll stop SOS'ing for reinforcements of Tecate and Tacos, and save it for emergency only situations. "

That doesn't qualify as an emergency situation?

KasloKid, we will have to agree to disagree. I do have all said insurance, because it is the responsible thing to do. Insurance is a gamble, it is there for catastrophic events that you might not have the money to recover from. I don't see SPOT as insurance.
Would you alter your trip if you didn't have a Spot? If you could not send a 911 spot, what would you do? Would you use one if you had a catastrophic motor issue? ("You" being pejorative). The idea that somebody will help me if I push the 911 button is a false one. It takes 10 to 12 hours to set up life-flight. Try to get a Helicopter evac in Baja, I don't know if it could be done on short notice.
There are far more folks ill prepared venturing into Baja these days. I have helped many of them out. I have and will continue to help as long as it does not endanger my party. Most activities in Baja are relativity safe and don't domino out of control. I also carry a large first aid box and a full toolbox. It seems that I spend more time using both of them today then 15 years ago.

I have helped with many SARC teams and never once seen a time when they didn't put the team before the rescued person. Their risk might be high, but always understood and excepted.

If it used to let the folks back home you are safe and OK, cool.
Checking in daily isn't high on my families list.

Alm, I wouldn't want to leave her with to much overhead to manage.

[Edited on 4-1-2014 by MMc]

[Edited on 4-1-2014 by MMc]

[Edited on 4-1-2014 by MMc]