[Paddlewise] Spot

Regarding the SPOT thread that occurred awhile ago here are some remarks
from the law enforcement point of view. This was a hike not a paddler but I
suspect the problems are the same.



Our agency recently had an opportunity to handle a mission that was a direct
response to the new SPOT Satellite Messenger.



The subject was a 66 yr old male, who was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.
The subject inadvertently hit the help button on the device.  This is one
of three buttons, all depressed within the device, that you would push for
assistance.



Here is what we learned



The help key sends a message that the subject needs immediate assistance.
That message goes to the subscribers member group via e-mail.   This does
not go to 911 unless the subscriber actually hits the 911 key.  The
subcriber members then called 911 to start the SAR.



The subject realized his error and tried to correct it by sending an I am
okay message, which only his wife received.  At this point the wife was so
upset she completed discounted the okay and was pushing for an immediate
search.  None of the other family members who received the distress call
received the  I am okay  call.



Our Duty Officer spent nearly 2 = hrs on the phone with the company because
they declined to give him tracking information, claiming they could not do
that with out a password and login information.  Now, the deputy was able to
figure out the login with the wifes assistance but not the password.  The
company finally agreed to give the deputy a temporary password, but said
that password would only be sent to the subscribers e-mail.  Yes, that is
correct, that very subscriber is our missing and possibly injured subject.
The wife was able to get on line and access her husbands account to get the
temporary password.  Now, with that information the company gave the
coordinates, which turned out to be inaccurate.  I am working on determining
how far off the coordinates were



So apparently the device has three buttons to push in the event of an
emergency.



911 which goes to the local police

Help with goes to the family network

Okay function, which goes to whomever the subscriber has set to receive that
message.





Summary,



We are not impressed.







Christopher G. Madden

maddencg_at_earthlink.net
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