Archive for the ‘Personal Locator Beacon’ Category
No matter what craft you are flying or how close your destination, it is always necessary to bring location devices and survival supplies on your excursion. Packing these essentials will not only give you peace of mind knowing that you are properly prepared but will also save your life in the event of an emergency. Making a small investment now can pay huge dividends in the future.
A personal locator beacon will help rescue teams pinpoint your position, and the ACR Aero Fix is one of the best models on the market. It utilizes a 406 MHz transmission to communicate with a satellite system, transmitting your unique register code. The unit is lightweight and will take-up virtually no space in the cockpit.
Over the last few days there has been a concerted effort in Oregon to find a group of three hikers that has gone missing on Mount Hood. The hikers did not have an ACR personal locator beacon or other device to alert rescue teams to their whereabouts. Adverse weather conditions have severely limited the amount of rescue workers and aid that has been accessible to the area, with a whiteout completely eliminating the search efforts on Tuesday.
Searchers found the body of one of the climbers at an elevation of 9,000 feet. The preliminary autopsy showed that he had fallen and incurred minor injuries before hypothermia set in. As the weather worsens and rescue attempts become for restricted, the prospects of findings the two remaining hikers is dwindling.
One of the best selling personal locator beacons in the world is on sale for a short time. The ACR MicroFix personal locator beacon is being sold at discounted prices due to over stock inventory. This state of the are PLB can be purchased for over $100.00 less than it cost a few weeks ago. If you’re in the market for a personal locator beacon, this ACR MicroFix is for you! ACR PLBs have saved the lives of hundreds of people around the world.
For Emergency Use Only: Locator Beacons
For the past few years, I’ve been doing all I can to teach my teenage sons about the virtues of self-reliance. I find that the best venue for these lessons is the great outdoors, where nature rewards those who think quickly and logically while punishing fools and cowards. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not the sort of dad who taught his kids to swim by throwing them in the lake. However, it’s my firm belief that we learn best by doing, and that physical and mental challenges only make us stronger.
Before venturing into the woods for a fun but taxing hike with the boys, I always sit down and figure out exactly all the supplies we’ll need to bring along. Decades of experience have taught me how to survive in the wilderness, and I would never overlook the essentials of food, water and shelter. Last year, we decided to take along a GME personal locator beacon as well, vowing only to use it in case of a dire emergency.
ACR, the leading manufacturer in personal locator beacons, has introduced the latest line in PLBs. The SARLink personal locator beacon is the best one they have made yet. The cost is much lower and the unit does more than the previous units. It’s weight is less, it is able to perform more self tests, it operates for a longer period of time, and it has a flashing strobe on it as well. If you are in the market for a personal locator beacon or have been waiting a while until the prices drop, now is the time to look at the NEW SARLink from ACR Electronics.
Two hikers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains were stranded when very bad weather moved in from an unforecasted early winter storm. Packed only for relatively mild conditions they were forced to seek shelter in a tent designed for mild weather. The storm produced over a foot of snow overnight making the trek several miles out of the mountains impossible with the gear they had available. With no other options, they activated their ACR SARLink personal locator beacon. Rescue services were immediately notified and a rescue was in operation shortly. One more save attributed to the personal locator beacon.
Outdoorsman Uses an ACR Microfix PLB for Rescue
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — During the summer in northern Alaska, the sun is visible for 24 hours. Never-ending daylight means the region’s Inupiat Eskimos, who depend on subsistence for survival, are out hunting and gathering food at all hours. The Alaska North Slope Borough Search and Rescue (SAR) division maintains 24-hour readiness to assist those who end up in dangerous situations in an unforgiving environment.
A case in point was a rescue on July 31 when the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center was alerted around midnight to a 406 MHz distress signal from an ACR Microfix 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) 12 miles southeast of Atqasuk, Alaska. With knowledge of the victim’s identity and location, the North Slope Borough SAR Department, based in Barrow, AK, immediately launched a helicopter with a medical team to the remote area.
It was a textbook rescue. With the PLB signal, we went straight to him and rendered medical care,” the pilots said. “Without the beacon, his friends probably would have driven him to the village to get aid. At 2 to 4 miles per hour, it would’ve taken them five hours to get there.”
PLBs are proving to be valuable emergency life-saving devices for outdoor activities of all kinds. Since PLBs were given FCC approval in July 2003 for sale and use in all 50 states, there have been 251 lives saved in the U.S., according to NOAA. Alaska led the states with 161 total rescues. In 2008, 68 people in 35 incidents used PLBs to signal for help in the U.S.
Cedar City, UT - A Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) has again played a significant role in the location and rescue of an outdoors enthusiast-this time a novice woman climber near the Brian Head ski-resort in Southern Utah.
The rescued party was a 47-year-old New Jersey woman, who fell and sustained serious head injuries while hiking and climbing with her family on June 3rd. Her brother, an experienced climber and a local physician from St. George, Utah, was carrying a SARLink 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon, which, when activated, put into motion a Search and Rescue (SAR) operation that eventually led to her being evacuated by helicopter.
PLB rescues on land have only become available since a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) waiver ruling went into effect July 2003 approving the sale and use of PLBs for land use in the United States.
Personal locator beacons used for hunting trips by adventure companies. Many companies that offer hunting and fishing trips to remote locations are using personal locator beacons as an added safety feature for customers. For many people, a hunting or fishing trip into the wilderness can be an excursion enjoyed only once or a few times in a lifetime. If anything were to go wrong, the only way to contact someone is with the use of a very expensive satellite phone or a personal locator beacon (PLB). A PLB can be carried for years without any cost at all. If needed, it can be counted on to work because it floats and is waterproof. The satellite phones are expensive (to buy and operate) and not very durable. This is why many adventure and outdoor companies rely on the personal locator beacon for added safety of their employees and customers.
Expect the Unexpected When You’re off the Beaten Path
Earlier this week, a freak landslide wreaked havoc in the eastern part of the Washington State’s Cascade Mountains. According to estimates from emergency response workers, more than 1,500 people were forced from their homes or trapped in the area overnight. Geologists and seismologists hadn’t anticipated the rock slide is making State Route 410 completely impassable for the next several months.
Events like this just go to show that campers and rural residents can never be too careful. When you’re far away from medical facilities and other bastions of civilization, it’s important to have a lifeline. Personal locator beacons act as a link to the authorities and to those who can help you out of a jam. Even if you never need to use the beacon, it’s better to have peace of mind knowing you’re in constant contact.