Personal Locator Beacons In Action

On August 15th 2015 a 60 year old, avid hiker and backcountry skier activated his ACR PLB-375 ResQLink at noon.

He had been hiking near Shoshoni Peak in the Colorado Mountains North West of Denver and ran into trouble. He had injured his head and sustained other injuries while chasing his dog! While his injuries were somewhat minor, he was located at over 11,000 feet in the mountains and unable to traverse the many miles that it would have taken him to get to civilization.

The ACR PLB-375 has an internal GPS receiver which sent his location along with the distress signal to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.

The AFRCC contacted local authorities who unsuccessfully attempted to rescue the hiker using a Life Flight helicopter. A military Black Hawk helicopter was dispatched and the hiker was extracted to safety at 4:30 pm.

In order to help rescuers determine exactly what is going on and perhaps narrow down your planned activities, it is extremely important that you properly register your PLB!

A Boy Scout Group of 18 kids and adults was on a 50 mile hike near Upper Cathedral Lake in Okanogan County, Washington, when one of the adults began having heart trouble.

An ACR PLB-375 ResQLink with an internal GPS receiver was activated 10:15 am. When activated the ACR PLB-375 sends its GPS location along with the distress message.

After receiving the alert through the SARSAT System the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center coordinated with local authorities about available search assets. The local Sheriff coordinated with a Federal aviation unit to search for the PLB and party using a Black Hawk Helicopter.

The Black Hawk landed near the group at 2:05 pm, loaded the individual and his child and evacuated the man to a medical facility.

Often in situations like this during its rescue process the AFRCC consults the PLB Beacon Registration Information that is sent to them with the distress message and beacon location. They will attempt to contact the owner or designated contacts to try to determine if the distress signal is real and if there is any available information on what beacon owner is doing as well as any known medical issues. This can greatly increase the rescue forces response time!