One issue that seems to be coming up more and more frequently is that of people substituting technology for common sense. A cell phone, PLB, SPOT, or sat phone can be hugely valuable for calling for help in a real emergency. However, they can also be a crutch, and lead us to be less prepared and self reliant.

Check out this recent incident: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/alaska-search-and-rescue-thin-line

I think everyone on this forum would agree that we should stay out of trouble to begin with. And certainly no one should have any qualms about calling for help when life or limb is truely at risk. However, we should also give some thought to when it is not appropriate to call for rescue. In my opinion, we should all make every reasonable effort to self rescue. Even if that means spending an uncomfortable night out. A few minimal preparations can make that night less uncomfortable!

A very interesting article which contains a lot more information and insight than usual. I don't think that Marsh was dumber because of technology, but I think it made him more careless.

A moral hazard is introduced when SAR services are easily accessed and are free.I think about the guys that go out fishing on the ice edges in Lake Superior and when the wind shifts, the ice drifts out to sea. These guys know the risk, but the fishing is good, and they know that SAR will come out and get them.

I think the only way to modify this type of behavior is to charge a fee for a rescue operation. One should be able to purchase insurance for it if they wanted too.

This issue is not anything new. We were dealing with frivolous searches and trying to separate the wheat from the chaff back in the 60s and 70s.

It would always be nice if people would accept responsibility, be prepared, and rely primarily on their own resources. SAR cannot respond immediately for any number of reasons.

I don't know if technology is necessarily making us dumber. Rather, I feel like it causes us to expect that help is always just a button press away.

With that being the case, people sometimes take more risks than they are actually prepared for. This is done under the pretense that, if they get into trouble, one quick phone call and the rescue crew will give them a free helicopter ride home. In actuality though, it doesn't usually work like that.

Good article, thanks for the link.

Rather than "dumber," I'd say "lazy," "complacent," "overconfident."

My cell phone (Verizon) is not even 100% in the city (depends on the building) so no way I'd bet my life on it in the wilderness. It stops working altogether 70 miles west of DC in route to our usual campground in the Shenandoahs. Even on top of the mountain coverage is spotty, at best.

A consistent theme in cases cited in the article is that people panic near darkness. Yet, they seem not to have given any thought to the challenges and dangers rescuers face after dark.

So add "self-centered" to lazy, complacent and overconfident.

It would be tragic if PLB alerts become as dubious as home and car alarms - which people around my neighborhood don't pay much attention to anymore because most have been false alarms.

. . . and then when he uses up the cellphone's limited battery using that electronic compass, he'll still be lost, but now he won't have a phone either.

comon sense, there ISN'T and app for that.

Actually, I have complete confidence that the natural tendency for many human beings, when left to their own resources, is generally in the direction of dumbness. It has nothing to do with technology.

For example, I live very near the coast and often monitor the VHF marine frequencies, particularly on the weekends when all the dude boaters are out on the ocean. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the Coast Guard, or Sea Tow, or some other sea rescue agency ask a stranded boater for their position, and the boater can't provide the info. In other words, they either don't have a $100 GPS, or don't know that their GPS can provide them with coordinates that will more or less pinpoint their location. So, no, technology doesn't make these people dumber, these people can do it all by themselves. ;-)

Er.. Dumber.

I laugh at -

Techo-geeks who can find anything, so long as the GPS is working. Can't read a map or compass tho. God forbid their batteries die, or GPS breaks.

Cashiers who can't make change without the register telling them how much to give back. God save them during a power outage (seen first hand).

Geeks who know it all, as long as they have bars on their hispeed fones. Out of fone service, they may as well be on the moon. And they get all fidgety when they can't check their emails 25x an hour.

So am I surprized that more and more people put themselves in dangerous situations, then call for help. Not a bit. I only wish Darwin was allowed to operate as intended.