GPS locator beacon saves woman on remote Russian expedition

Posted by Rob Beschizza, September 5, 2008 9:41 AM | permalink

Briton Kimberley Warren, traveling in Russia's remote Kamchatka region, was saved thanks to a personal locator after breaking her leg.

The locator machines send a distress signal at 406 MHz and contain a beacon that relies on the GPS. Her signal was picked up thousands of miles away, at a station in Scotland. From the BBC:

It was detected by the UK Mission Control Centre within the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre at RAF Kinloss at about 2200 BST on Thursday.
An RAF satellite monitoring system operator contacted her Russian counterparts, who sent a rescue helicopter.The group was nearing the end of a two-and-a-half month expedition to the Kamchatka peninsula when the accident happened.

I'm definitely ordering one of these for the next time I leave the BBG gadget dungeon.

Pic: Google Maps

Woman rescued in 4,500-mile alert [BBC]

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Discussion

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#1 posted by Takuan , September 5, 2008 10:08 AM

what? Putin didn't parachute personally out of a fighter jet wearing a tiger skin cape?

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#2 posted by Zarniwoop , September 5, 2008 10:19 AM

Yeah, I know this girl. What's strange is that I actually remember chatting with her earlier on this year about her upcoming trip to Kamchatka, and how remote it is, and how many thousands of miles it is from the nearest hospital. I'm sure she'll be okay now. She's probably feeling most annoyed about her trip being disrupted.

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#3 posted by Anonymous , September 5, 2008 10:42 AM

Argh! The important thing isn't the GPS bit (though that's a bonus!), its the 406MHz EPIRB (Emergency Position Information and Rescue Beacon), a 1970s USSR technology that was so reliable its still going strong!
The beacon would have also had a 121.5MHz local beacon, which would have guided the rescue chopper in...

Its one of those rare beautiful moments where different countries and industries have worked together to make an absolutely kick-ass and life saving integrated system.

Learn something:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPIRB

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#4 posted by rageahol , September 5, 2008 11:12 AM

like you ever go anywhere that you dont get signal on your fucking iphone.

"help, i've stubbed my toe at the genius bar! they're closing in!!!11!1one"

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#5 posted by themindfantastic , September 5, 2008 1:34 PM

admittedly youd be hard pressed to find the people who actually NEED a device like this, but ya know your going to get all the idiots who bought offroad vehicles for city driving, super light light competition quality racing bikes that sit unused, top of the line camping gear for when they just want to get away which hasn't come up in the last decade... etc. etc. etc.... these are people Monster Cables and its new cleaning solutions are made for.

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#6 posted by Takuan , September 5, 2008 1:44 PM

at least she broke a leg. Remember that city slicker twit who set off an EPIRB in the Arctic because he heard wolves howling?

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#7 posted by Anonymous , September 6, 2008 8:19 PM

its called an epirb, has been around for 20 years. not new

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#8 posted by Ninjahippie , September 8, 2008 2:39 PM

Um... For us mere mortal geeks:

http://www.findmespot.com/Home.aspx

Just sayin.

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