My experience using my SPOT Messenger's 911 emergency button

[jh504]

When contacting a local sheriff dept. you are most likely going to be put in contact with Wanda who sits at a desk 5 days a week. Sounds like GEOS alerted other resources besides the sheriffs dept.

IMO 2 hours is pretty good if not down right fast and I wouldn't expect it to happen any faster, especially if your in an isolated area. SPOT is not like calling 911, there is a lag time and a mobilization time, plus take into account rescuer safety, is it safe flying conditions? Is there restricted military airspace that needs special clearance? There are a myriad of things that must happen before a foot goes to the ground or blades start turning.

Understood, I am not really involved in backcountry rescue just wondering if that is a normal time frame.

This brings up and excellent point that everyone venturing into the backcountry should have medical knowledge to some degree. You might be your only rescuer.

 

[teotwaki]

Ignoring the LE department's inexperience with coordinates I have to say that I am very encouraged. If I were in a more remote area where no truck could go, a 2 or 3 hour wait for a helicopter ride would be a minor and very welcome miracle.

 

[BriansFJ]

Understood, I am not really involved in backcountry rescue just wondering if that is a normal time frame.

This brings up and excellent point that everyone venturing into the backcountry should have medical knowledge to some degree. You might be your only rescuer.

2 hours is really pretty good. And fully agreed on the second part! FWIW, I'm going to get a SPOT as soon as finances allow...:jumping:

 

[buck moberly]

I thought the two hour response time was fast. It took the two people I was with who left 3 1/2 hours to ride out and get back with truck. The sheriff's department was planning to get to me on the ground until the person that stayed with me got into the next valley and up a ridge and made a cell phone call out letting my wife know that I was injured.

I suggest you tell your contact person that if you use the 911 button on your SPOT messenger that it is a medical emergency and only a medical emergency.

I assume they get a lot of false alarms and most county's have limited resources. Even though my wife tried to convince them I would not use the SPOT's 911 button unless hurt they must have assumed I was lost or broken down.

The dispatcher that did not know about GPS was not a 911 dispatcher, she was at the closest office to were I was.

The GEOS people were very helpful , but in the end you are in the hands of the local authorities, who did fly me out and find me quickly once they knew I was injured.

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

Aren't there two emergency buttons on the spot? One for emergency and one for non emergency?

 

[kellymoe]

My message that would be sent to GEOS is that I am a highly trained firefighter paramedic with 20 years experience and I would not use the 911 function unless there was a severe medical emergency. I also let them know my 8y/o son has asthma and peanut allergies and to bring advanced airway supplies and meds for asthma and allergies.

This gives them a good idea and not to take it lightly. My wife also knows to tell them the same info.

 

[jh504]

My message that would be sent to GEOS is that I am a highly trained firefighter paramedic with 20 years experience and I would not use the 911 function unless there was a severe medical emergency. I also let them know my 8y/o son has asthma and peanut allergies and to bring advanced airway supplies and meds for asthma and allergies.

This gives them a good idea and not to take it lightly. My wife also knows to tell them the same info.

Your sons allergies are the kind of thing that scares the crap out of me out somewhere like that. My mother in law has the same issues and she loves to hike. I was just telling her the other day she needs to carry her epipen EVERYWHERE because she usually forgets it. 2 hrs is still a long time, with only one epi though.

 

[Echo_29]

We've got a weekender cabin near buck moberly and having dealt with some of the local hired hands out of the Sheriffs Dept I'm surprised it only took 2 hours--which sounds pretty good time wise.

Get better "buck", you got 6 weeks till Anza Borrego!

Scott

 

[xcmountain80]

Hmmm from my exp. here in FL a or any Medi-vac situation starts @ $15,000. I ran into a situation with the damn GPS #'s and a local Sheriff's dept. I was in the Ocala National Forest and while not an EMT I have a great deal of 1st Aid training and carry a Pelican 1500 loaded with medical goodies. Anyhow we were in the middle on nowhere MON and happened upon a vehicle rubber side up and blood everywhere. I immediately checked the signal of both phones and found my Nextel was 2 bars strong. I called 911 and got the local guys, I explained what had happened,,, the vehicle lost control no sign of alcohol nor any sign or smell of recreational drugs. But the blood was everywhere and there was no body. I hadn't passed a vehicle for 5 miles and another vehicle approaching from the opposite direction had the same to report. I checked local camp sites within 1/2 a mile and nothing. The blood trail disappeared into the woods I imagine but the underbrush was so thick no one could have gotten far. I waited for 1/2 hour with another offroader with nothing to report. I left and heard from FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) 2 days later! They local couldn't do anything with the GPS coord's I provided which made me PO'd to no end. Such a cheap system and in the middle of the woods c'mon people.

Aaron

 

[OTR]

Good to hear that you ar OK. I'm just curious what your bill is going to be. Of course you can't put a price on a human life. Oh, by the way, did you have the extra insurance offered by spot?

 

[teotwaki]

Aren't there two emergency buttons on the spot? One for emergency and one for non emergency?

OKAY

HELP sends a preformatted help message to whoever you designate

911 handled by SPOT team

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Glad to hear it all worked out.
I have been with SPOT for 1 yr and I am 100% happy and I hope I never need the 911 button for anyone.

As for a 2 hour response time I think its great considering the alternative...

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

OKAY

HELP sends a preformatted help message to whoever you designate

911 handled by SPOT team

OK, so it's not all or nothing. That's cool.

 

[luk4mud]

I have not had to use the emergency features on Spot yet, but my wife loves the non-emergency check-in feature. I use it regularly when on a trip out of cell pone range and it gives her the piece of mind to know that everything is ok. I just lent it to a friend who went buck hunting and I think he'll be buying his own as well. Great product for the price.

 

[jcbrandon]

...Many people have asked if and how the SPOT Messenger I used to call for help worked...

Thanks for the real-world story. Much appreciated. Hope you get well and back on the trails soon.

...helo's aren't always available at the drop of a hat and would probably only be readily available in close proximity to a large population center.

Perhaps I'm just extra fortunate, but I find a different situation where I live. Here in Douglas County, Nevada the population density is 57 people per square mile. The nearest large city is Reno with a population of 210,000. It is about an hour's drive away. The next nearby large city is Sacramento on the other side of the Sierra crest, 2-1/2 hours away in good weather.

The nearest hospital is a four-minute drive from my house. There is an air ambulance and crew stationed there ready to go 24 hours a day. This time of year I often see them flying to one of the ski resorts nearby in the Sierra.

Our local search and rescue teams are phenomenal. A few years ago I was working a remote basecamp for a snowmobiling outfitter. Around sunset, two private riders came into camp in a panic and reported that they had lost a buddy in an avalanche. As I was calling the authorities to get help, they tried to use their GPS to give the coordinates of the accident site. They were too panicked to use their equipment and could only give us a verbal description of the place. Within 30 minutes, we had a whole team of trained volunteers on site and ready to head out on their own sleds. We also knew that it had taken the two individuals more than 45 minutes to ride from the accident site to our basecamp to make the initial report. The body was recovered about 2 am the next morning. The victim had been killed almost immediately.