How SOS with Garmin Inreach works.
Curios to know how GEOS will work in new Zealand I sent an Email to the GEOS center in USA and I thought to share their answer with you.
Hi Giuseppe,
My name is Emily, I am the Operations Manager for the GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC) - We monitor the SOS for the inReach devices. Our Customer Experience team forwarded me your email regarding the emergency response process for incidents in New Zealand, as well as the cost for a rescue.
To answer your question "what happen in case I trig the SOS button for an emergency ?(usually I climb and hike in NEW ZEALAND and NZ doesn't usually charge for search and rescue operations)however do you as GEOS charge anything in case I activated my SOS button ?" - GEOS does not charge the customer anything. We will coordinate your rescue with emergency services. If they are going to charge for the rescue, they will get with you directly. So, you will not be charged anything by GEOS for any SOS activation that gets triggered from your inReach.
To help you better understand the IERCC's call-handling process, here is a summary of our Standard Operating Procedure (SOP):
In the event that we receive an SOS activation from an inReach device, we will immediately bring up the location of the incident on our mapping software, identifying the location of the incident and the agency responsible for that particular area. Meanwhile, a member of the IERCC will send the device a message in attempt to gather information regarding the situation that has occurred. We immediately begin contacting emergency services based on the location that was provided with the activation and relay all known information regarding the situation. This includes the Latitude/Longitude, registered owner information, emergency contact information (if requested), and any additional information that we receive regarding the situation. While someone is notifying the agency, another member of the IERCC is attempting to contact the registered owner by chance that we can reach them by phone and they can provide information regarding their emergency. A member of the IERCC will also attempt to contact the emergency contacts (at the phone numbers provided in the profile) to gather any additional information that they may have, such as: what the device user is out doing, the number of people in the party, ages of the individuals in the party, medical history, itinerary, vehicle description, and provisions. Any information that is obtained will be relayed to the responding agency. Throughout the entire process, the IERCC will continue to stay in communication with the device user to keep them updated on the rescue (even if they are unable to respond). We continue to request updates from the responding agency and also update emergency contacts until a final disposition is obtained.
In the event that the IERCC receives an emergency activation from a device in New Zealand, we are required by International Standards to contact the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) for New Zealand to inform them of all known information for the event. Once the RCC has been made aware of the information concerning the event, they will follow their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as to how to respond to the incident. They will know the proper agency to contact for the location that will have the proper resources for the rescue.
In addition to the monitoring services provided by the IERCC, we also have member benefit packages that can assist in the cost of SAR incidents. More information on these benefits can be found at geostravelsafety.com
I hope this answers your questions! If you have any further questions, feel free to respond to this email or contact me at the number listed below. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Best regards,
once they pass the information for the beacon signal to RCCNZ
, they will then take over coordinating the local rescue in NZ
depending on the location, usually a helicopter is sent, or the police are contacted if a ground based SAR operation is to take place.
the difference with normal beacons is the helicopters and search and rescue can't home in on an inreach beacon signal like they can for most PLB's which have an extra frequency that rescue helicopters and ground SAR teams can usually pick up.
the inreach only communicated with satellites or to a mobile phone via bluetooth.
they just have the map coordinates of the signal to go to.
if tracking is enabled and is being transmited from the inreach, and the internet page that shows that device updates for that device account is given to local SAR, then that will give them real time updates of location as long as they have an internet connection or can relay the details to a SAR team if they don't have access to the webpage.
https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/about/what-we-do/safety-and-response/RCCNZ/
That sounds interesting...I read that the beacon locator signal is better than the Inreach...
I really like though the chance of stay in contact with family and having weather update...
Tough one....
the two way comms of the inreach is an advantage in a search, searchers can interact with a missing person to help them assess what resources the person needs, and help locate them or give advice to make themselves easier to find or treat an injury for instance... or just update them on the search itself.
potentially in the future if all thats happened is they have run out a food, a drone may be able to be sent to drop food, for far less cost than sending a helicopter and unecessarily diverting an emergency resource to the people in need of help... with a two way device searchers can get detailed information in real time that they can't get with a PLB. if you havent left detailed intentions they can get details from the people needing help, exact numbers and the exact issue they are facing and how many people it is affecting..
with a PLB you are reliant on trip details being left with someone who is listed as a contact thats IF the beacon has been registered and contact details kept up to date with RCCNZ...
Use Inreach a lot, for text messaging only.
Very handy, but getting satalite connection can take a while, if down in valleys. on tops seems pretty quick
I don't rely on Inreach for SOS purpose. carry a light PLB for that
if I get injured, don't want to wait 30 minutes or more for SOS alert to be recived
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Forum | Gear talk |
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Started by | giuseppe23 |
On | 24 October 2018 |
Replies | 4 |
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