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BEACONS

When Personal Locator Beacons do - and don't - make sense

Bill Layman has paddled Nunavut and the Northwest Territories with his partner, Lynda Holland, for over seven years. He wishes the Inuvik incident was an isolated one, but says stories of the inappropriate use of emergency signalling devices, triggering costly rescues, occur every year in Canada's north. He recalls when he lent his Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) to an outfitter who was taking a wealthy client on a stretch of the Kazan River. When their canoe blew away they set off the PLB.

"They had all the supplies they needed, except for the canoe, and a floatplane was scheduled to pick them up in less than a week," says Layman. "They could have spent that time fishing and hiking, but the client demanded the outfitter call for help, provoking a very expensive helicopter rescue." The tab was picked up by the Canadian taxpayer.

Layman says that PLBs should be an essential part of any major outdoor expedition, but believes they should be reserved for dire emergencies. "Along with our PLB we carry a satellite phone and a VHF air-band radio," he explains. "There is the phone for logistics, like calling for a plane or a boat pickup at the trip's end or to contact a doctor for instructions on treating an illness or injury with our first aid kit."

They use the VHF air-band radio to contact bush planes if they encounter trouble. But Layman maintains that their PLB would only be activated in the event of an all-out disaster. "Mine is strapped to my lifejacket, and my pre-trip registration plan indicates that if it is activated, we are in acute need of assistance because all other means of communications have been lost say, for example, in a canoe capsize."

When an individual buys or rents a PLB, they must register a detailed trip plan. When a PLB is activated during a trip a Dire Emergency SOS signal is relayed to Canada's Mission Control Centre (MCC) at CFB Trenton. Each PLB has a uniquely coded signal, which enables the MCC to pinpoint the exact location and to reference pre-trip registration details to launch a rescue.

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Use the correct beacons

Layman also finds the use of Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB) or Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT) in lieu of PLBs and satellite phones troubling. "EPIRBs are for ships, while ELTs are for planes," he explains. "They emit generic signals that are respectively received as 'ship is sinking' and 'plane has crashed' leaving rescuers with no choice but to launch costly and often needless rescues."

He sites the example of a party of young women on a canoe trip near Churchill, Manitoba, who activated their EPIRB and launched a helicopter rescue. They were worried about forest fires. A satellite phone would have enabled them to call Churchill to find out if there was any real danger.

Mr. Layman thinks that individuals who can afford to take remote trips should ensure they have plans in place to deal with a wide range of emergencies. "The PLB is a truly a lifesaver and all wilderness travellers in the far north should take one along," he says, "But, they should also have back-up plans and other means of communications for minor emergencies. PLBs are meant for, and should be used only in the event of a serious crisis."

The source material for this article was provided courtesy of Bill Laymen, from his article in the Fall issue of the Kanawa magazine, published by the Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association.

INUVIK N.W.T. (CP) - An American paddling in the Northwest Territories missed a rendezvous with a bush plane sent to pick him up, so he set off a downed aircraft signal that triggered at $100,000 search and rescue operation. The man, whom RCMP identified only as a librarian from New York, had finished a 14-day canoe trip from Coleville Lake to the Anderson River, a remote area north of the Arctic Circle. Sgt. Mark Wharton of the RCMP estimated the rescue cost $100,000 including the $9,000 per hour Hercules aircraft and a helicopter sent from Ontario.

U.S. allows use of PLBs on land On October 8, 2002, the U.S. Federal Communciations Commission authorized the use of 406 MHz Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) on land in the United States. Beginning in July 2003, hikers, hunters, climbers and others will be able to carry PLBs with them in case of distress. Until now, the use of PLBs has been limited because the agencies involved were not able to coordinate a nation-wide rescue system to respond to PLBs. There will be heavy fines (up to $250,000) and imprisonment for six years for deliberate misuse of PLBs.

COSPAS-SARSAT celebrates 20th anniversary

A sense of achievement, pride and enthusiasm aptly describes the atmosphere at 20th anniversary celebration of the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite launch and its first rescue. Advanced by a partnership that included Canada, France, the former Soviet Union and the United States, COSPAS-SARSAT was launched in June 1982. In September of that same year the system picked up the distress signal of a light plane that had crashed in British Columbia. The system's pinpointing of the crash site led to the rescue of the plane's pilot and passengers.

The celebration was held September 5th at the Canada and World Pavilion, cohosted by the National Search and Rescue Secretariat, Communications Research Centre Canada, and EMS technologies.

The evening included congratulatory remarks from officials of the attending organizations, a video recounting the history of COSPAS-SARSAT and the presentation of certificates, by NSS Executive Director Jean Murray, recognizing the contributions of the many dedicated individuals who played key roles in the development and success of the system.

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