[Jenny]

We had a very informative and interesting talk by John Ashby of the Rescue Co-ordination Centre NZ at the club last night – about the work of the RCC NZ and in particular about how PLB’s work and how the RCC co-ordinates the response/search.

We were left in no doubt as to the usefulness of PLBs to those of us who head out into the hills/bush incase of a real emergency (where life is at risk – not just because of weariness!)

A few tips from the talk last night:

If you set your PLB off in an emergency:
1) leave it on until you are found (it has a homing beacon for the helicopter to follow once at close range)
2) try to put it in a position that maximises it’s “visibility” to satellites – outside, not in thick bush, don’t cuddle it etc. It is waterproof and won’t mind a bit of rain!
3) try to make yourself as visible as possible to the searchers – if possible move to an open area and wear/have bright colours to make yourself visible.

If you set your PLB off by accident (hard to do but it happens):
1) try to contact the RCC to tell them it was an accident. If you make contact then turn it off.
2) if you cannot make contact with the RCC, leave the beacon on until you are found and explain to the helicopter crew when they arrive. Otherwise they will waste a lot of time and resources looking for a casualty in the last position the PBL gave… (ie they would rather find you quickly and go home rather than keep searching).

The WTMC owns 3 PLBs which are available for use on club trips – good to see all 3 are going to be out this weekend! I know a number of members also have their own. If you are interested in buying your own then John (from the RCC) can get us a good deal (~ $600) as long as there is sufficient interest (and only in the next few days).

Please contact me on social_at_wtmc_dot_org_dot_nz asap if you are interested in buying a PLB.

Cheers,
Jenny

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