The rescue gadgets that put you on the map

Published on Friday 5 September 2008 23:01

PERSONAL locator beacons are the latest gadgets available for the intrepid and accident-prone to speed help in a potential rescue operation.

They are the size of a TV remote control and cost 200 to 300 – half the price of two years ago. Around 2,000 are registered with RAF Kinloss, the UK's rescue co-ordination centre. Similar equipment is in common use by sailors and private aviators.

The hand-held beacons show location, including latitude and longitude. A button has to be pressed for two seconds to send a distress message, to prevent accidental activation.

The devices send a distress signal via satellite to mission control centres across the world, which alert rescuers.

The centres use global positioning system (GPS) technology to pinpoint the location of the beacon within five seconds of it being activated.

Many beacons also transmit a homing signal which helps to guide search helicopters as they approach the scene.

Those beacons registered with RAF Kinloss also automatically send details of their owners, and contact numbers for relatives, so staff can verify there is an emergency before launching a rescue. A Danish man is thought to be have been the first hillwalker in Britain to be rescued after activating a such a device in the Highlands in May.

Sunderland-based Niels Vinter, 60, raised the alarm after suffering severe abdominal pains while in Glen Etive, 15 miles from Fort William.

Unable to receive a signal on his mobile phone, he used his beacon to send a distress message that was received by a control centre in Houston, Texas. It alerted police in Fort William, who in turn relayed the message to RAF Kinloss.