PLB activation
Original post
Fri night I dislocated my elbow at Woolshed Creek hut. A mate (ex army medic) tried to relocate it but wasn't able to. We had a PLB and in this situation (not life or limb threatening, warden in residence, not far to walk to get cellphone reception, 4wd track to hut) did not even consider activating it. But it's got me thinking about PLB activation decision making. Sometimes it seems clear
- potentially life threatening (eg breathing difficulty, low BP from an injury, suspected pelvic or femur fracture, unconscious)
- potentially limb threatening (eg limb fracture or dislocation with numbness or pale/cold or loss of pulse beyond the injury. In that situation I would think even if alternative evac method was possible, time could be critical for saving the limb and activation would be reasonable)
- if no chance of being able to self rescue. although if in a group, this might not be black & white - what if other rescue would mean the rest of the group assisting the injured person out over many hours or days, how long is too long? What if you're not sure if it will be possible or not? It might depend on the severity of the injury/illness and the terrain. How do you predict whether attempting self rescue is going to significantly worsen their condition / the injury?
Then there's kids - my threshold for pushing the button would be way lower if it were one of my kids injured and in pain.
And I have no idea about the logistics of helicopter flights eg at night, weather restrictions?? I know they prefer early activation rather than waiting for the end of the day.
Interested in anyone's thoughts, or experiences when they have or have not activated their PLB. Thanks
22 comments
Ok so how about I am overdue my panic date & I know that my wife is going to be phoning the police to report me missing? Is it not better that I push the button now so they know exactly where I am rather than making them go to all the extra bother of trying to find me?
arguably yes.
at least one person did that...
maritime safety tried to prosecute him for wasting rescue services time, , he was found innocent and the law they were using was actually a law intended to do with something about interfering with official radio frequencies...
if there are huts on your route and its known you will visit those huts and you can get to a hut quickly enough, you could sit there, one of the first things a helicopter will do is check the huts and the log books to try and work out what part of your route you are on...
but otherwise an expensive search is going to get launched anyway so if you set your beacon off you make it quicker and smaller. landsar less likely to get involved and if so a lot less people are going to be used.. andthe search will be resolved a lot quicker.. if you do a lot of big trips and ones off established tracks a two way satelite comms device is very helpful...
Hi Phil21, I put that scenario to both NZSAR and AMSA in 2012.
AMSA replied with an emphatic no - only activate for life-threatening situations.
NZSAR said activation was reasonable in that circumstance.
Note that was 7 years ago and policies can change. Still, at the time I thought NZSAR's response was considered and AMSA's was policy-driven. In NZ, I would activate. In Aus, I wouldn't.
There was a thread in 2016 that discussed it.
edited : https://tramper.nz/forums/thread/8887?offset=1
These days, two-way messaging devices eliminate the overdue senario.
If it's not a medical emergency, don't press the PLB. If you're overdue, and LandSAR knows you have a PLB, they'll assess your capabilities, and probably won't launch a rescue mission straight-away.
The overdue scenario is all too common. So no, no PLB in that case.
decent intentions left and stuck to. Overdue should not require plb.
That changes though in bad weather or off intended route
I usually say "I'm due out on Monday. If you haven't heard from me by Wednesday, I've got a problem".
From what I've read here, I probably wouldn't hit the PLB, all else being well, but would signal anything that might look like it was searching or low flying. Just to make myself conspicuous if there was somebody out looking.
I think it depends a certain amount on how long it'll actually take you to get out. If your trusted contact reports you overdue, it'll be to Police. Police won't automatically panic just because you're reported overdue, but they do like to be able to make decisions about how serious the situation is, and with as much reasonable warning as possible.
They'll assess all the information that's known about your capabilities and your plans and your supplies and the situation you've walked into, which your trusted contact should also be able to supply them with. They'll probably take into account that you have a PLB and haven't activated it, and very possibly choose to wait another day or two before really panicking.
Or maybe they'll send out expensive helicopters to scour the ranges for you and, after you walk out fine, put out an angry press release for the taxpaying public about how you should have activated your PLB.
Emergencies are messy with imperfect information. They happen because mistakes have been or are being made, but frequently get assessed with benefit of hindsight. I'm not sure it's possible to come up with clear and objective rules that'll keep everyone happy. The ideal strategy, imho, is to just plan to avoid getting into trouble like that as much as possible.
@bernieq, that link you posted seems to come straight back to this thread.
@waynowski, was that this one in 2013 or are you thinking of something else? http://www.windy.gen.nz/index.php/archives/2517
There was no actual effort to prosecute, as far as I know. Only noisy threats which didn't seem to have much basis in law. He was cleared of wrongdoing about four months later in a much quieter press release.
@izogi, yes
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| Forum | The campfire |
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| Started by | chris1 |
| On | 28 March 2021 |
| Replies | 21 |
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