June 19, 2003 - When Aron Ralston set out for a day's worth of hiking and climbing near Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah, he never realized that Saturday, April 26, 2003, would be the day that forever changed his life. A day that would challenge his desire to live and eventually put him on the front of newspapers and television news programs around the world.
Earlier that day Ralston, 27, of Aspen, Colo., had set off for Blue John Canyon - a remote corner of the state far from the reach of people and even cell phones, for that matter. After spending some time climbing through the canyon, he made a quick maneuver around a narrow slot. There, he put his right hand on the side of a boulder, that suddenly shifted, pinning his hand. Ralston was trapped. After several unsuccessful attempts to move the boulder and squeeze his hand free, he tried some of the ropes, anchors and other equipment in his pack. Tragically, the boulder just would not budge.
For the next five days, Ralston continued to struggle - still no one came. By Tuesday, he had used up his water and food rations. His situation was becoming more desperate. He needed to take drastic measures. And that's just what he did.
Using his pocketknife, Ralston proceeded to free himself in the only way he could - by severing his crushed arm. Amazingly, once free, he then rappelled down 60-75 feet to the canyon floor and walked 4 to 5 miles before he ran into a couple of tourists from Holland, who helped him wave down a rescue helicopter that was searching above.
While Aron Ralston's story is certainly one that demonstrates the courage of the human spirit, it is nevertheless an unfortunate one that may have been avoided altogether with a little help from NOAA.
Personal Locator Beacons
In October 2002, the Federal Communications Commission granted a request by NOAA to permit the nationwide use of Personal Locator Beacons, commonly known as PLBs, beginning July 1, 2003. What this landmark decision means is that hikers and other outdoor adventurers, like Aron Ralston, will be able to take advantage of the same lifesaving technology that mariners and aviators have been able to enjoy for years - satellite-aided search and rescue.
Unlike cell-phones, which have limited range and spotty coverage in remote areas, PLBs have the capability of being detected anywhere in the world by the global lifesaving satellites known as Cospas-Sarsat. Cospas-Sarsat is a search and rescue (also known as "SAR") system that uses United States and Russian satellites to detect and locate emergency beacons that may be indicating distress. In the United States, the program is operated and funded by NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Air Force, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and aims to reduce the time required to alert rescue authorities whenever a distress situation occurs.
Here's how it works: NOAA operates a series of environmental (POES) and geostationary operational environmental (GOES) satellites that detect and locate aviators, mariners and land-based users in distress. These satellites, along with a network of ground stations and the U.S. Mission Control Center in Suitland, Maryland, are part of the Cospas-Sarsat system, whose mission is to relay distress signals to the international SAR community.
When a person is in distress, their beacon can be activated which transmits a digital 406-megahertz signal to the constellation of NOAA and Russian satellites. The signal - with its digitally encoded unique identifier - is then relayed to a ground station, known as a Local User Terminal (or "LUT"), which processes the signal and computes an accurate location for the beacon using Doppler technology. That is, positional information calculated based on the relative motion between the satellite and the PLB. In the United States, NOAA operates 14 LUTs in seven locations across the U.S., including Guam and Puerto Rico. There are currently 42 LUTs in operation worldwide with several more being built each year. This year (2003) and next, NOAA is in the process of upgrading its LUTs throughout the country.
Once the ground station has calculated a position, it transmits the alert to the NOAA U.S. Mission Control Center in Suitland, Maryland. The USMCC combines this information with other satellite receptions (from other ground stations and MCCs), determines who is in distress based on the registration information decoded from the digital 406 MHz signal and then generates an alert message. This alert is then transmitted to the appropriate Rescue Coordination Center based on the beacon's geographic location and/or identification.
After the Rescue Coordination Center is alerted, it begins the actual search and rescue operation. In the United States, these rescue centers are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard for incidents at sea, and by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley AFB (located in Virginia) for incidents on land - including all PLB alerts. In the case of a properly registered PLB, which is required by law to be registered with NOAA's SARSAT Office, the RCC telephones the beacon's owner and/or emergency contact. If the RCC cannot determine that the signal is a false alert, it dispatches SAR teams to locate the aircraft, vessel and/or individual in distress. These SAR forces use planes, helicopters, and search parties to find the person(s) in distress and bring them to safety.
Generally, a beacon activation can be detected by GOES and an alert generated and sent to the RCC in a matter of minutes. In the time that the RCC is telephoning the beacon owner or emergency point of contact and preparing the SAR teams, a position can be calculated and processed from a POES in under 45 minutes, depending on one's location on Earth. That means that for Aron Ralston, a SAR team could have been on the scene and helping to free him from the 800-pound boulder in, perhaps, just over an hour. Not only would Ralston have received proper medical attention, but he never would have had to face the gruesome decision he so unfortunately had to make.
PLB Versus Cell Phone
Cell-phones have truly revolutionized the means in which people communicate. That includes the means by which people are able to call for help via the national '911' system. Routinely our news is filled with stories of how people were able to hail for help via their trusty cell phone.
Despite the success of cell-phones there are limitations, not the least of which is coverage. For outdoor enthusiasts, this has often presented a problem should they ever find themselves in harm's way in wilderness areas. PLBs, on the other hand, are able to be detected from anywhere in the world - thanks to the global coverage of the Cospas-Sarsat satellites.
PLBs also have the advantage of being able to produce a location, which most cell-phones cannot do. For a standard 406 MHz PLB the location accuracy is around two to three miles. Generally, this equates to a search time of around an hour for a search team on scene - depending on the terrain. Some beacons, however, take advantage of GPS technology and are able to generate a position with even greater accuracy. Those PLBs which have GPS receivers, attached either internally or externally, are able to produce a position smaller than a football field. For SAR teams, that means they can go directly to your location without having to conduct much of a search. With time always the critical element in a distress case, this can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.
The cost for PLBs will be, on average, slightly more than a top-of-the-line cell-phone. PLB manufacturers sell these beacons in the $250-$500 range. Those with GPS capabilities will cost the most.
Despite the many advantages to PLBs, these beacons should only be looked upon as a means to compliment cell-phones. Indeed, most SAR authorities actually prefer users try their cell-phones first in a distress situation and call "911." The reason given: because anytime an individual is able to speak directly to a 911-operator the better. A 911-operator is able to assess the situation almost immediately. They can determine the extent of the distress, if any injuries have occurred, how many people are in the party, what the terrain and weather conditions are like, etc. All of this can then be used by the operator to dispatch the appropriate emergency response. In the case of a PLB, SAR forces are only able to be alerted to a potential distress - often without direct communication back to the individual. Usually, the RCC reach an emergency point of contact only - and that's if the PLB is properly registered.
PLB Registration and False Alerts
Registration is one of the most important facets to PLBs. In the United States, all beacons (including PLBs) are required to be registered with NOAA's SARSAT Office. In the case of a registered PLB, the RCC is able to call the beacon's owner and/or emergency contact, to determine if a real SAR event is unfolding or if the beacon has been falsely activated. If the RCC cannot determine that the signal is false via the information provided by the emergency contacts, it must assume the beacon activation is legitimate and dispatches a SAR team accordingly.
Nevertheless, SAR teams do come upon falsely activated beacons. The manpower and cost of responding to false alerts are extremely high and are a significant burden to SAR resources nationwide. To avoid false alerts, NOAA encourages that all beacon owners learn to properly operate and test their beacon and to follow the manufacturer's recommendations carefully. Because all PLBs require a manual activation, it takes some effort to accidentally activate a PLB. Still, accidents and activations do occur. Should a user mistakenly activate their PLB, the user has about 50-seconds to turn off the beacon before the distress signal goes out. If that 50-second window has passed, promptly shut-off the beacon and contact the state search and rescue authority - which is usually the State Police, Sheriff's Office or an officially designated agency. Or you may contact the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (toll-free) at: 1-800-851-3051.
The introduction of PLBs provide a tremendous resource for protecting the lives of outdoor enthusiasts that was unthinkable prior to the Space Age. With a 406 MHz PLB, search and rescue authorities will enhance upon their ability to locate those in distress anywhere in the world at anytime and in most conditions. Truly, these beacons-and the Cospas-Sarsat system-are helping to take the "search" out of search and rescue.