Are there any statistics on time-to-rescue from when a PLB is activated to when rescuers arrive on the scene?

I realize this is _highly_ variable. But I'm curious as to whether any estimates exist: so much money is spent on the SARSAT system and SAR efforts that there must be some metrics of some kind to measure improvements/regressions over time.

(in light of the %(*&^ with the Canadian teaching ship I think some performance metrics might be of interest, and people carrying a PLB on a hiking trip in the woods need to realize that activating a PLB is not like calling 911 in a city)

Interesting question. There must be data on many different aspects of PLBs including cicumstances, mistakes/false alarms, time to rescue etc.

I thought that someone on this forum would come up with statistics on this subject. Apparently they don't exist or they are very obscure.

In the absence of data, let's go to anecdotes. I have participated in something over 400 SAR events, and let us just say that the time to rescue from first notification (not sure that the involvement of a PLB is particularly relevant) is highly variable. It ranges from less than five minutes to several years, or at least several days if you are only counting living rescues, not body recoveries.

If you go into the woods, you must be prepared to take good care of yourself. You cannot blindly trust the ability and availability of others, no matter how good their reputation might be. Many circumstances can delay rescue operations, the most common of which is probably inclement weather.

I've been curious about this, mostly because I suspect people will have a false sense that they press the button and minutes latter a helicopter appears in the sky.

My guess is you are still looking at a dayish, maybe bit more wait, but that is a total guess, and as you note, is probably highly variable.

It would be interesting to hear if someone has some insight on this.

-john