Re: [Paddlewise] SPOT anxiety

Craig,
The unintended consequences was more my concern - and I wasn't saying it's a 
given long term, but it sure seems like a possibility if there's some 
frustration being expressed now with a device that's relatively new with 
projected sales continuing to go high.

Hopefully we can keep the discussion friendly.

I appreciate Bob's perspective as it comes from a user and someone who tends 
to think through the technical issues without any subjectivity.

Perhaps it does come down to the local rescue authorities in the 
jurisdiction where the response has to be made. If the authority has good 
comprehension of how the SPOT devices works and proper information about the 
circumstances surrounding how and why a call came in, then it is in their 
ballpark if they want to initiate a search.

I did talk to SAR Coordination in Victoria this morning. They are well aware 
of the "issues." Discussions are currently underway at higher levels as they 
monitor and evaluate this new technology. Concerns expressed include 
response time expectations from users hitting the 911 button. The SPOT 
company must have accurate information for you particular circumstances at 
the exact time of the help request. It is up to the user to predefine who is 
to be called - contacts, relatives, or the CG/SAR in Victoria, perhaps. For 
the matter of the family member who hasn't had a timely okay message phoning 
in, SAR Victoria will ask for the full circumstances, log into the user 
account with password if given, and examine the traveled route. It will be 
up to the duty officer to make a determination; they may put out a marine 
broadcast on VHF (like they did for the Brooks paddler who disappeared), or 
they may initiate a search with assets being utilized as normal with a May 
Day call. Basically, the staff have good spider sense (instincts) and 
generally call the shots in these situations on a case by case basis in the 
context of theses fine-honed senses. That's all they can do for now.

Policy implementation is under review, they did (the officer I spoke with) 
indicate there is some "agitation" with the propensity for false alarms and 
inefficiency of response time. Time spent researching the need to respond 
more quickly than not is time the resuee might not be able to afford. The 
officer was obviously concerned over both the 911 and the OKAY features of 
SPOT, as his answers were all commingled.

I was just glad they had the situation on their radar. There were some 
comments about the company in Houston I'll keep to myself.

Obviously discussion is good.

Perhaps, Houston, we have a bit of a problem.

I don't think the SPOT device works well for offshore situations, but for 
coastal and land based activities, it is still a promising device.

Doug Lloyd

> On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 8:01 PM, Bob Myers <qajaqbob_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I think that's ridiculous.  And a somewhat panic-stricken fear in and of
>> itself.
>>
>> You're saying that because the Coast Guard is not going to search on
>> the basis of a lack of SPOT check-ins, it's not going to search on any
>> overdue basis at all?  Quit panicking.
>>
>
> Oh please, Bob... we're just laying out some issues that no one had 
> thought
> of when SPOT came out on the market. No one is talking about panic except
> you. But you, yourself, said that you expected the USCG to come out with
> policies that would require other information than just a lack of SPOT
> reporting. What other information would you ask them to require? What is 
> the
> difference between a wife saying she's not had a SPOT "I'm ok" email in 
> two
> days when he promised faithfully he'd send one and a wife saying she 
> hasn't
> had a telephone call in two days when he promised faithfully he'd make 
> them?
> How would you devise a policy that differentiated between the two?
>
> The unintended consequences of SPOT being marketed through Wal-Mart could 
> be
> an overhaul in how the USCG views phone-in overdue reports. If no one
> discusses this now then we'd have no one to blame if the policies they
> implement are unsatisfactory.
>
> Craig Jungers
> Moses Lake, WA
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