National Park Rangers having some issues with those SPOT communications devices.
One of the most frustrating new technologies for the parks to deal with, rangers say, are the personal satellite messaging devices that can send out an emergency signal but are not capable of two-way communication. Globalstar Inc., the manufacturer of SPOT brand devices, says new models allow owners to send a message with the help request.In some cases, said Keith Lober, the ranger in charge of search and rescue at Yosemite National Park in California, the calls “come from people who don’t need the 911 service, but they take the SPOT and at the first sign of trouble, they hit the panic button.”But without two-way communication, the rangers cannot evaluate the seriousness of the call, so they respond as if it were an emergency.Last fall, two men with teenage sons pressed the help button on a device they were carrying as they hiked the challenging backcountry of Grand Canyon National Park. Search and rescue sent a helicopter, but the men declined to board, saying they had activated the device because they were short on water.
via Technology Leads More Park Visitors Into Trouble – NYTimes.com.
