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willardguy
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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.
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Ateo
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Guess I'll stop SOS'ing for reinforcements of Tecate and Tacos, and save it for emergency only situations.
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bajaguy
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Be interesting to read about the lawsuit against SPOT and Amazon. Do you have a link???
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willardguy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaguy
Be interesting to read about the lawsuit against SPOT and Amazon. Do you have a link??? |
http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20140327/family-of-r...
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Ateo
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In fact, I'll be sending out an SOS from the bar in La Fonda around 6PM tonight.
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Ateo
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So the lawsuit looks like he hit "SOS" but no one came.
Suing Amazon seems bizarre.
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bajaguy
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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The article indicates he "activated" his SPOT.......from what I remember from the USCG and press accounts, the SPOT was in a "Tracking" mode during
the race/voyage. It will be interesting to see if anyone hit the "911" button....and if so, who was notified by GEOS
| Quote: | Originally posted by Ateo
So the lawsuit looks like he hit "SOS" but no one came.
Suing Amazon seems bizarre. |
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David K
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So when I run out of Pacifico on Shell Island, I can't SOS for more???
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
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You likely can, but you may not get it....
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JZ
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So would Matt Scharper just rather the people die?
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willardguy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by JZ
So would Matt Scharper just rather the people die? |
don't know about that but congratulations SUPER
nomad!
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EnsenadaDr
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Mood: Move on. It is just a chapter in the past, but don't close the book- just turn the page
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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.
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bajaguy
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People who use the devices to request "non-salty" water and hot chocolate should be billed for equipment and personnel time.
I have known of some cases where the "victim's" homeowner insurance paid equipment and personnel costs for actual emergencies
| Quote: | Originally posted by JZ
So would Matt Scharper just rather the people die? |
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JZ
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaguy
People who use the devices to request "non-salty" water and hot chocolate should be billed for equipment and personnel time.
I have known of some cases where the "victim's" homeowner insurance paid equipment and personnel costs for actual emergencies
| Quote: | Originally posted by JZ
So would Matt Scharper just rather the people die? |
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Not chit bud, obviously not talking about that. Come on man, did I really need to state it?
Mattie seems to be going further.
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Whale-ista
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Mood: Sunny with chance of whales
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Thanks for the Information. The people described in the article clearly need more help than 1st responders can provide...
FYI I was just checking out SPOT devices (Gen3 is $150 at REI) and Delorme Inreach Satellite phone ($249). You need to take service into account: SPOT
is $150/year for service, Delorme offers monthly contracts starting at $15.
Insurance for rescue via SPOT is $12.95 with GEOS Search & Rescue, covers up to $100K.
I won't go into other plan details on this thread, but more information at http://www.inreachdelorme.com and http://www.findmespot.com
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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MMc
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I'm sure I'll be shouted down but, what the hell. I see no need for a spot. If you go play the game, you should know and except the rules. If part of
the game is that you can be hurt or die so be it. Asking that others go out of their way or put themselves at risk to save you is just wrong. Stupidly
should be pailful and if appropriate deadly. "if you got yourself into get yourself out".
I have done a bunch of stupid and life threatening stuff in the name of fun. Always considered getting rescued as a unexceptional fail.
This thinking that a spot will save you is B S if you don't have a support team to step up first.
I love adventure, I didn't have kids because I didn't want them to grow up without a father. When I go to Baja by myself. I check in with my wife and
tell her when and where I'll be, if that is changes she is told. When I would go to climbing some far mountain or rock she wouldn't hear for weeks.
I know this will not make me any points with those that believe that we all should of protected by something or someone.
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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David K
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Spot used by Mark_BC, Mike Younghusband, Graham Mackintosh, and others have increased the total Nomad experience a lot for many. Now those of us not
able to be down there, can follow along with our Nomad friends... and be with them, in spirit at least.
Secret societies aren't on the Internet, and Baja Nomad is a place for sharing or enjoying what others have to report.
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MMc
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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? 
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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willardguy
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| 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?
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if they don't take a picture of the taco, did they eat it?
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Cliffy
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How do we improve the gene pool if all the idiots get rescued?
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