How To Use An EPIRB
This is a bit of a Community Service Announcement, there have been a few reports in the news lately about the misuse of EPIRBs in Tasmania. Two notable occasions were a Swiss couple who activated their EPIRB after getting their 4WD bogged just 7Km’s from a main road and a group of South Australian’s walking the South Coast Track who became too tired to complete the rest of the walk, obviously the Rescue team was not impressed as they only lifter one person out so that he could arrange a private charter helicoptor to retrive the others, and fair enough. As I started writing this last night there was a short on TV that there would be a story in todays newspaper, so here is a link to the story on The Mercury website, SOS call for sanity. A couple of days earlier was this article, Wrong EPIRB use set to cost. Charging for misuse seeming to be getting a lot of public backing and it will probably go ahead, considering the Search and Rescue helicopter responds to most activations plus the usual services you can imagine it is quite costly, $1000’s for each call.
What is an EPIRB?
Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons. When activated, the beacons send out a distress signal that allows it to be located by the satellite system and search and rescue aircraft to locate the people, boat or aircraft needing rescue. They may also be known as Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs).
When to use an EPIRBÂ
And by use I mean activate. Simply you should only use an EPIRB when your life is in danger, obviously a bogged car or tired legs don’t count as a life threatening situation. There are a few less dire situations where an EPIRB may be activated but I won’t list them simply because I want to avoid having to write a disclaimer, etc. I’m sure you can imagine for yourselves what they might be.
How to avoid having to use an EPIRB
As they say ”prevention is better than cure” and this applies to EPIRBs. On extended trips you should always carry enough food and water for at least an extra two days, that way if you get stuck somewhere because of weather or your just not making good time you have two days to play with.
Know your limits don’t set out on a week long walk if all you’ve done before is overnight trips.
Don’t panic, think with a clear head about what you can do to help yourself and what others might be able to do for you. Exhaust all other means of escaping the situation and most of all use common sense.
[tags]EPIRB, Emergency, Hiking, Tasmania, Safety[/tags]
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