The biggest rising section of SOS customers, nevertheless, is motorists
In 2023 helicopters, ambulances, and search and rescue groups (pictured) have been dispatched most continuously in response to Garmin SOS triggers. Jacob W. Frank / NPS
A brand new report from Garmin that examines international inReach SOS knowledge from 2023 exhibits that it’s not simply backcountry adventurers who’re triggering SOS calls today. Though hikers and backpackers are the biggest consumer group counting on the GPS function to contact emergency companies, Garmin’s knowledge exhibits that the most important improve in SOS calls in 2023 got here from driving-related incidents.
“This emphasizes the significance of getting an inReach available for on a regular basis ‘just-in-case’ conditions,” Garmin writes in its report. The corporate factors out that many of those emergency calls got here from drivers who broke down, hit unhealthy climate, or have been concerned in (or witnessed) an accident outdoors of cellphone vary.
This takeaway is just a part of the image, because the Garmin report takes a broader take a look at the place SOS calls have been triggered in 2023 and why. As a result of the Iridium satellite tv for pc community covers 100% of the globe, inReach units can be utilized anyplace on this planet. The above map exhibits SOS calls being triggered from each continent besides Antarctica in 2023, with the very best density of calls coming from the Western U.S.
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The highest causes for hitting the SOS button have been accidents or medical points, adopted by vehicle-related issues. The opposite commonest causes have been being stranded, caught, or misplaced. Garmin’s report additionally exhibits that almost all of SOS calls got here from hikers and backpackers in 2023. After drivers and motorcyclists, which represented the second-highest share of callers, the teams that hit the SOS button essentially the most (so as) have been: boaters, climbers, campers, snowmobilers, hunters, and skiers. Though it doesn’t give actual percentages, the report contains a pie chart displaying the opposite outside consumer teams that triggered calls, together with anglers, cyclists, horseback riders, sailors, and whitewater rafters.
“Responses from everywhere in the world — from New Zealand to Norway to Argentina and Canada — have been coordinated for airplane crashes, grizzly bear encounters, sinking sailboats, skiers in avalanches, stranded divers, injured climbers and lots of extra,” Garmin writes within the report.
The huge quantity of SOS knowledge that Garmin gathered final yr shouldn’t come as a shock. Garmin’s inReach sequence — which incorporates the full-size inReach, the MINI 2, and the Messenger — has change into one of many gold requirements of backcountry satellite tv for pc communication. In 2022, Garmin introduced a milestone of 10,000 SOS calls being triggered from all over the world. The 2023 report didn’t observe the quantity of calls, simply the consumer teams and response. The info tracks with what we learn about outside recreation: extra folks are inclined to hike, backpack, and drive than, say, paraglide, so it makes extra sense that this group has a proportionally bigger want for SOS calls.
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These GPS units are loads helpful even with out the SOS button, which ought to solely be used as a final resort. An inReach additionally can help you drop waypoints, set tracks, and ship texts to household or associates who might doubtlessly aid you out of a non-life threatening scenario. I began utilizing an inReach whereas guiding fishing journeys in Alaska and it’s been an important piece of my package ever since. And since I spend lots of time driving out of cell vary today, my inReach now lives within the middle console of my truck when it’s not stashed away in a pack. I’ve (thankfully) by no means had to make use of the SOS button, however I consistently use the pre-set message function to ship updates to my spouse (more often than not, it’s to let her know I’ll be dwelling just a little later than anticipated). The Garmin report factors out that simply opening a line of communication with somebody through inReach helped virtually 10 % of individuals self rescue, relatively than requiring rescue from first responders.
