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#132648 - 05/12/08 02:43 PM Does Anyone Have Any More Details On This Rescue?
Ian Offline
Member

Registered: 05/15/07
Posts: 198
Loc: Scotland
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7395648.stm


Scots glen SOS picked up in USA

A distress signal sent by a Danish hill walker from a Scottish glen was picked up in Texas, before being relayed back to Highlands police.

The rescue in Glen Etive, near Fort William, was sparked by an emergency beacon the size of a TV remote control.

Neils Vinter, who felt unwell, sent a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) text, which was picked up 4,000 miles away.

A Royal Navy helicopter from Prestwick, Ayrshire, flew him to hospital.

The multi-national, inter-agency rescue began at 0300 BST on Monday.

The 60-year-old, who lives in Sunderland and was attempting a coast-to-coast trek across Scotland, pressed an emergency button on his device when suffered acute abdominal pain.

His text detected by security and communications firm GEOS's emergency response centre in Houston, Texas, which alerted Northern Constabulary's Fort William Police Station, 15 miles from where the walker was located.

Officers contacted Northern's force operations centre in Inverness for clarification before the RAF Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre at Kinloss, in Moray, was contacted.

The RAF team, who co-ordinate the UK's search and rescue helicopters, scrambled a Royal Navy Sea King from Prestwick.

Mr Vinter was taken to Belford Hospital at Fort William where he has been receiving treatment.

Rescue co-ordinator Flt Sgt Tim Dickinson said: "This was a perfect example of excellent cooperation between the police at Fort William and the military search and rescue services."

Northern Constabulary said: "The system means that the monitoring company call local police.

"An operator at Fort William Police Station got the call and was given the digital co-ordinates in relation to the man's location.

"The operator then contacted the force operations centre in Inverness for clarification and the call was then put through to RAF Kinloss."

GEOS monitors the global mobile phone and satellite market and offers services for users of GPS-equipped mobile/cell-phones, satellite phones and other GPS-equipped devices.

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#132651 - 05/12/08 02:57 PM Re: Does Anyone Have Any More Details On This Rescue? [Re: Ian]
Am_Fear_Liath_Mor Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 3078
Hi Ian,

Glen Etive is quite a nice place to be rescued from. Nice to see the SPOT product working so well.


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#132657 - 05/12/08 03:12 PM Re: Does Anyone Have Any More Details On This Resc [Re: Ian]
JCWohlschlag Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/26/06
Posts: 724
Loc: Sterling, Virginia, United Sta...
It sounds like the “emergency beacon device” Neils Vinter used might have been a SPOT Satellite Messenger, which Doug Ritter has given us a great synopsis of. According to their own website, here:
Quote:
ALERT 9-1-1: Use this function In the event of a life threatening or other critical emergency to notify emergency services of your exact location and that you need assistance. The GEOS International Emergency Response Center alerts the appropriate agencies worldwide – for example contacting 9-1-1 responders in North America and 1-1-2 responders in Europe.


Doug Ritter also noted in his “First Look” Review that:
Quote:
Your distress alert with a GPS derived location is sent to the "GEOS Global Command and Control Center" in Houston, Texas, operated by SPOT's partner, GEOS Alliance Travel Safety Group.
_________________________
“Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee. Sometimes old people hike by mistake.” — Demitri Martin

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#132658 - 05/12/08 03:20 PM Re: Does Anyone Have Any More Details On This Resc [Re: ]
Ian Offline
Member

Registered: 05/15/07
Posts: 198
Loc: Scotland
Yes, I know it well. My late father in law was a hill-shepherd up that way. He spent most of his life on the hills and would laugh at the kit we carry. Crook, Tackety boots, Tweed plus twos and a gas mask bag with his flask and piece was all he needed, whatever the weather.

Was it a SPOT that was used or a GPS enabled phone?



Edited by Ian (05/12/08 03:21 PM)

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