January 14, 2008

Contact:      John Bell
                                                                                                         954-970-3394
prseitz@bellsouth.net

Note to Editor: For MicroFix™ images, contact Leslie Sheffield.

 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – JANUARY 21, 2008 – Ken and Quinn Golash were on a Sunday drive, January 7, in Prescott National Forest in Arizona. They took a mountainous dirt road that began getting rough and difficult to drive on. When it began to rain, the couple found they couldn’t go back the way they came because dry streambeds were filling with water and washing the road out.

It was getting dark and they failed to find an alternate road out. The Golashes, who are in their sixties, decided to spend the night in their truck and wait for the rain to stop. Being experienced hunters and outdoorsmen, the couple pulled together enough food, clothing and blankets for the night. They even captured rainwater as a safeguard. But their most comforting assurance was having an ACR Electronics MicroFix™ 406 MHz GPS Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) with them.

The rain continued throughout the night. The next morning, Ken walked up to a higher elevation and unsuccessfully attempted to get cell phone service. At 10 a.m., he and his wife made the decision to activate their satellite detectable beacon. They knew it was a signaling device of last resort, but they also knew that their son would soon be calling authorities to report his parents missing. The Golashes feared that without knowledge of their location, their son’s alert would initiate a time-consuming, all out search over a wide area. By triggering the PLB, Search and Rescue (SAR) teams would be able to pinpoint their exact position in minutes.

A while later, the couple heard planes overhead. A helicopter from the Arizona Department of Public Safety located them and dropped down a two-way radio. The terrain was too narrow for the aircraft to land so they were directed to a spot further up the mountain. The two were airlifted and flown to family members close to their hometown of Peoria, AZ. Three days later they were able to return to the area and drive the truck out.

Ken Golash said receiving the MicroFix™ PLB from his wife last month was the “best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten. Without it, I’m not sure we would’ve gotten out at all.” He even plans to buy a second MicroFix™ for Quinn, and they plan to carry them whenever they travel, especially when driving in the wide-open spaces of the west.

Ken also plans to carry the beacon when he hunts, which he often does alone. “Even if you have no one with you, you’re never alone if you have an emergency locator beacon,” he said.

Sgt. Rick Barnes, with Forest Patrol for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, said the Golashes made a good call in activating the PLB. “It definitely made it easier to dial in where they were. Otherwise, we would’ve been searching thousands of miles rather than a small finite area. We like it when rescues are quick and easy like this one.” Barnes also commended the Golashes for being prepared to spend an unexpected night in the wilderness and for registering the beacon in advance with current information that gave the rescuers vital information for the search.

A PLB is a satellite-signaling device of last resort, for use when all other means of self-rescue have been exhausted and where the situation is deemed to be grave and imminent, and the loss of life, limb, eyesight or valuable property will occur without assistance. All beacons must be registered following purchase. Simply go online to www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov.

ACR Electronics, Inc. (www.acrelectronics.com), a Cobham plc Company, designs and manufactures a complete line of safety and survival products including EPIRBs, PLBs, SSAS, AIS, SARTs and safety accessories. The quality systems of this facility have been registered by UL to the ISO 9001:2000 Series Standards. Recognized as the world leader in safety and survival technologies, ACR has provided safety equipment to the aviation and marine industries as well as to the military since 1956.

About Personal Locator Beacons:

Satellite-detectable Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) are proving to be valuable emergency life-saving devices for outdoor activities of all kinds. A continued increase in PLB registrations in the U.S. last year indicates a growing popularity and consumer interest in these rescue beacons, especially among hunters, campers, hikers, climbers, skiers and boaters.

Quick Facts

Following an experimental pilot PLB program in Alaska, which resulted in many lives saved over the course of a seven-year period, PLBs have become highly visible to the public since July 2003 when the FCC authorized them by rule for use in the U.S.A. PLBs perform the same function as an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) but are smaller and lighter. Advances in PLB technology include the addition of a GPS receiver, which make alerting and location and, subsequently rescue, faster than ever before.

PLBs and EPIRBs transmit signals on internationally recognized distress frequencies. The 406 MHz signal is monitored by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System (SARSAT) detects and locates distress signals. GPS coordinates greatly assist search and rescue crews.

NOAA has reported that in 2007 PLBs assisted in the rescue of 88 people in 38 incidents.  In 2006, PLBs assisted in the rescue of 37 people in 22 incidents. PLB registrations in 2007 showed a 66.85% increase over the previous year's total.

U.S.-based ACR Electronics, Inc., www.acrelectronics.com, manufactures and distributes the TerraFix™, AquaFix™, AeroFix™, MicroFix™ and ResQFix™ PLB brands. ACR is the leading manufacturer of PLBs and EPIRBs in the U.S. More than 50 percent of the satellite-detectable beacons registered in America today are made by ACR Electronics, according to NOAA Satellite and Information Service.