MEDIA ALERT

U.S. PLB Registrations/Rescues Continue to Increase

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 years 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.
Worldwide, the Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz satellite system is credited with rescuing 22,058 people since the program’s inception in 1982. Of that number, 5,730 persons were rescued in the U.S.

PLB Rescue Snapshots

The first recorded rescue from an ACR AquaFix™ PLB activation occurred off the west coast of Florida when two recreational scuba divers got separated from their boat. One diver decided to swim alone to the boat and was picked up by a passing boater. Once aboard his vessel, he discovered that his VHF radio was out of range and set off his AquaFix™. Within one hour, the U.S. Coast Guard rescuers arrived and began search patterns for the drifting diver. They saw her strobe light in the distance and picked her up. They were rejoined safely on their boat and they motored home.
A solo canoeist on a three-month trip on the Yukon River in remote British Colombia found himself in a situation with no way out. He flipped his canoe in near-freezing water and was flowing rapidly down the river. He eventually located shallow water, but his hands were numb, he was fatigued and spitting up blood. He decided his life was in peril, and set-off his ACR 406 PLB and awaited help. Within four and a half hours, rescuers located him and delivered him to a nursing station where he was examined and released.
The COSPAS-SARSAT system detected a 406 MHz EPIRB distress signal in the Florida Everglades. An air boater had become stuck in the vast swamp. Night was approaching and the presence of alligators motivated him to manually activate his PLB. A Coast Guard helicopter located him and directed Florida Fish and Wildlife officers in an airboat to him. The authorities enlisted nearby air boaters to help lead him back to safety.
A disabled snowmobiler, 20 miles from Barrow, Alaska, enabled his PLB and enlisted help from the COSPAS-SARSAT system. Alaska State Troopers located and rescued the man.
In November 2005, a New York man on a solo sailing trip from Rhode Island to Virginia ran into weather, so violent that it rolled his 34-foot vessel three times. With conditions deteriorating, mast broken, no power, no one in sight and 260 miles northwest of Bermuda, he activated his AquaFix™ P-EPIRB. Three hours later he was spotted by a U.S. Coast Guard C-130, responding to the rescue call. The Coast Guard directed two shipping vessels to his position to complete the rescue.
A private pilot employed as a fish spotter for fishing boats ditched his crippled plane in the Pacific Ocean 10 miles off Malibu, California. After sending out a radio mayday, he quickly exited the swiftly sinking single-engine plane and activated the AquaFix™ that he wore around his neck. While awaiting rescue, he set off flares and within minutes, an aircraft spotted him and the Coast Guard plucked him out of the ocean.
In 2006, four 19-year-old hikers became the first people to be rescued on land, outside of Alaska, by a TerraFix™406 MHz GPS PLB. Three of the hikers had fallen into a swollen creek while on a six-day backcountry hike in Washington State. The youth were wet, had damp gear and had no means to build a fire. The temperature was 45 degrees with non-stop rain and gale winds. When hypothermia began to set in, they turned on their rental TerraFix™ PLB which resulted in a successful rescue. Having critical knowledge of the teens’ location minimized the expense of operating the helicopter and the efforts of the park rangers. Alternative scenarios to the outcome of this accident include the possibility of a multi-day, large-scale search at significant expense to the public. The parents rented the PLB for their son because they realized a GPS unit alone would not alert someone if help was needed.
A woman climber fell and sustained serious head injuries while hiking and alpine climbing with her family in Southern Utah. Her brother, a physician, determined that her situation was grave and imminent, and activated his TerraFix™406 GPS PLB. Two forest rangers assisted by calling 911 on their cell phone. The police, who received notification and GPS coordinates courtesy of the SARSAT system monitored by NOAA, dispatched a SAR team to airlift her to a trauma hospital. The physician had purchased the TerraFix™ two years ago because he often hikes or climbs alone. He carries it in his backpack alongside his first aid kit.