I got to use my spot today.

[backcountryislife]

Went out to film today, on the way there, the brother of the gal that was going to film Abby screwed up his back really badly. Had to get help from the cat operation, then brought him out in a toboggan. When we got out, the sheriff & a FD guy were just pulling up, with the ambulance about 5 min behind.

The spot people also called my mom, who talked to CC 911 & told them what I looked like, what I drove & what I was likely doing up there.

They also were able to see the beacon moving once we started heading out, which allowed them to call off S&R.

All in all I'm VERY impressed at how well the spot did to speed up the situation. I'll be paying for my next year's subscription for sure now.

 

[Rprecision]

Thats good to hear, that is it worked.

I always wonder in the back of my head how EMS/SAR take calls from SPOT. I know there is going to be a response, you just hope its what you need. I guess thats the crux of the system

 

[rebak]

glad that you were able to get out on your own,is that guy gonna be ok? i was wondering how Spot is working in real life,instead of just pushing buttons and reading email,now i know the money is well spent.

 

[theultrarider]

I wish there was some kind of siganl or display/message function on them to show that your sos was acknowledged. That is my big fear with one of those. No way of knowing if your signal was recieved and that help IS really on the way. I am glad to hear that it worked in your case.

 

[backcountryislife]

I have to say I was very impressed at how well they communicated what needed to be done. Even as the Sheriff was pulling up he mentioned that they saw that the beacon was still moving, so the spot people must patch things over to them so they can see what is happening. It was pretty cool.

 

[AndrettiDog]

I figure the next generation will have some texting featue. Not cell phone texting, but the ability to put in a text string and send it with the GPS coordinates. That way you have info with your check-in, warning, or emergency.

 

[backcountryislife]

I wish there was some kind of siganl or display/message function on them to show that your sos was acknowledged. That is my big fear with one of those. No way of knowing if your signal was recieved and that help IS really on the way. I am glad to hear that it worked in your case.

If you're looking at the spot, you can tell if it is connecting by the way the lights are blinking. It's more hit & miss when you're tracking because you're not looking at it. In general though I've sent a ton of ok messages & when I took the time to make sure the spot was out in the open (not in a pack or in my seat) they have all gone through.

I can't say I was GLAD to have used it, but it sure was nice to see how it all came together, it really worked well for us today.

 

[Boondock]

Bummer about the guy! Stuff is no fun!

How is he doing?

Glad the Spot worked well.

 

[itsallgood]

Do you have the original spot or the newer version? I let my subscription expire on my original version. The OK button wouldn't transmit. Very frustrating

 

[tudizzle]

Sorry to hear...those back injuries are no joke


Glad to hear the spot worked when needed...not glad that it was needed.

 

[akfiremedic]

spot

I have used my spot since it originally came out without any problems. I live in AK and have been up past Fairbanks and down to Southeast and always had messages come through, never had to hit the 911 or help buttons yet(knock, knock). Something the troopers found out the hard way up here was that the spot broadcasts its gps cooridinates in degrees.decimal degrees where as the norm gps default is degrees.minutes.decimal minutes. Its an easy change on your etrex or rhino or any gps device but good to know if your the one going out to look for your buddies and reading the emails from the spot.

 

[newmy1]

Do you have the original spot or the newer version? I let my subscription expire on my original version. The OK button wouldn't transmit. Very frustrating

New version was recalled and they are not reselling yet.

 

[BackCountryBob]

I have to say I was very impressed at how well they communicated what needed to be done. Even as the Sheriff was pulling up he mentioned that they saw that the beacon was still moving, so the spot people must patch things over to them so they can see what is happening. It was pretty cool.

Do you have the optional tracking feature on your SPOT?
Can SPOT track a non-tracking unit?
Would this have been as successful if your mother did not respond?
What message did you send?

BCB

 

[Qreiff]

Kaleb, pass on our good "healing" wishes to your friend.

Q

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Glad it worked. I carry mine everywhere and I hope that I only have to keep pushing to "ok" button.

 

[backcountryislife]

Do you have the optional tracking feature on your SPOT?
Can SPOT track a non-tracking unit?
Would this have been as successful if your mother did not respond?
What message did you send?

BCB

Bob, I do have the tracking feature, and use it from time to time, but when you're riding & it's in a pack or seat, the reliability is much lower, I find it's about 60-75% reliable. What I found out was that when you push 911, it is NOT like an ok message, it is more like a track message, it moves with you, but if you have a serious situation, I'm pretty sure you'll be more particular about where you put the spot to send than you would be when riding normally. It also seemed to send more often than a normal track signal, as the FD guys were telling me that they could see it moving even as they were coming up the road. Even if you didn't have tracking activated on your unit, the 911 works the same way. I had a message from them & called back to ask some questions & found some of this out, it was pretty cool how they work.

All my mom told them was who I was (they had my name already from spot) and what I & my truck looked like (they had my truck from registration before they got there), and that I was a sledder. I could see this making a slight difference, but let's be honest, if I see a guy with a badge & flashing lights, he's not going to have to worry about me finding him because he didn't recognize me! If someone pushed the button, someone would be conscious to tell them you're the ones that need help.

I sent a 911 message, then the service linked it to S&R & 911, and then called my mom, my phone, and Abby's phone (the three I had listed for emergencies)

Yeah, MOM WAS FREAKED. She even called Abby's school to try to get ahold of her in case she was working. She was with me, taking a personal day, so the principal was then freaked...

All in all, maybe more people found out than needed, but I'd rather have more than less as you never know who may be with you in the situation.

The biggest thing that impressed me was the ability to call off S&R when the beacon made it closer to the trailhead. Considering how many people's time it consumes when there is an emergency, to save even some of that is a very useful thing. As soon as we knew we could get him out, I had Abby & Emilie drive out with the beacon, it made a difference.

 

[shonuff]

So the FD was seeing your movement sent from the SPOT to their GPS? How did that work or am I not getting something?

 

[CatWoman]

First.........hope things are ok for the guy!

Thanks for posting all of this info. I've never had to push the Help or 911 buttons........so interesting hearing how things came about after using the button.

 

[bushy]

So the FD was seeing your movement sent from the SPOT to their GPS? How did that work or am I not getting something?

Probably not all that hard to set up, tech wise. SPOT probably has a server ES can access via internet on a laptop. Cool when chit works slick! Need to log on and make some changes to my spot now...add more contacts. SPOT, Airbag, new 3 M probe, alum shovel and Pieps DSP are giving me some piece of mind! I still ride the same...like all I have is a map, compass and my wits, but it's nice to cheat now and then!

How did the guy hurt his back, Kaleb? Surgery serious? I'm sure he was happy you had the spot Back injury sucks, hope he GWS.

 

[hard2handle]

S&R

Caleb,so how did you go about calling off S&R when you knew it wasn't mandatory.