Compromising safety !

For decades, government agencies have been trying to get people to take an emergency beacon with them when they journey out to sea on a fishing trip or hike in dense bushland in a national park.   These small, relatively cheap devices send out a signal when triggered that enables the national search organization to pin point it's location - and enable a fast rescue.   They save lives !

The message is starting to get through.  There are now 248,000 emergency beacons in private hands in Australia and the number is growing.  An additional three thousand are bought and registered each month, but to the dismay of searchers - the number of " false alarms " is increasing and causing a cost blow out. Emergencies need a fast response and that usually involves helicopters.   Putting a chopper in the air with it's Medivac crew runs to  thousands of  dollars per hour.

Last year alone, emergency beacons were triggered 1700 times, resulting in 206 emergency search responses - but only 109 of these was a genuine emergency.   It seems that some members of the public have a fanciful interpretation of what constitutes an emergency.   In some cases, the device was triggered because a driver found a four wheel drive vehicle became bogged or was suffering a minor mechanical fault, well within walking distance of support facilities.   It was a case of using the emergency beacon  as a type of NRMA road service !

Statistics show that over four hundred devices were triggered inadvertently, and sadly - twenty-one were time and money wasting hoaxes.   The service advises that owners need to be very careful in disposing of old analogue search beacons which are now replaced by more powerful digital models.   Some have been dumped at landfills and the vibration of compacting have caused them to switch on - with a consequent response triggered.   Battery removal should always be part of the decommissioning process.

Used wisely, an emergency beacon can be a lifesaver.  Unfortunately, we still have people who head out to sea in boats and rely on a mobile phone for emergency communications.   Police stations and ranger stations at national parks have emergency beacons available for bushwalkers - free of charge - but some people still go into danger hopelessly ill equipped for the task ahead.

Emergency services urge users to treat these beacons as a serious safety device and not allow kids to use them as a toy.    Just like the 000 emergency phone number,  inappropriate use can tie up resources that someone else desperately needs !