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Equine Ramblers UK
personal locator beacons
Emails from a horse rider
Hi Jenni ?
I hope I have the name right! I wanted to comment on your mention of PLB's. I bought one while in the USA, as a precaution, for a proposed long distance ride that had to be cancelled. How ever I brought it back to the UK with me and registered it here with the relevant authority in Falmouth. I took it to Southampton to have it reset for use in the UK, as it was registered in the US. I registered it here for use when out riding in remote areas. At no point was I informed that there was a legal problem with this, the registering authority actually thought it was a good idea. So my PLB is registered here in the UK for horse riding. As opposed to sailing etc. My advice? Buy them, register them and pray you never need to use them. Better to be taken to court for using one to save a life, than to be dead.
Yours,
Sherry
Answer
Hi Sherry,
Thankyou for your email.
The Coastguard I presume is where you registered with in Falmouth. They should know better and so too should McMurdos whom I presume you got to reset your PLB. However the individuals working in these organsations may not be aware of the restriction for land use in the UK. When I first approached McMurdos I was told 'Yes I could use it on land' and then they found out that wasn't the case. That is what sparked off the campaign.
I do see your point. I have just spent a few days in the Lake district ridng the High Street with my horse. I took a GPS and maps and my husband (although he didn't ride with me he knew where I was going) so if anything did go wrong there was someone looking out for me. Also water and food. The GPS wasn't foolproof as there are so many unmarked paths up there it is easy to go wrong, which I did several times. The PLB wasn't needed but I felt it would have completed my personal safety measures.
As it turned out I came off the mountains down a very steep footpath to Hawswater. My husband knew where I intended coming down. We had mobile reception late afternoon. He did alert the Mountain Rescue (not intending them to actually come out), but they weren't needed. I met them on the Hawswater access road and was told they'd sent a team to Hayeswater as well. If I'd had a PLB and raised the alarm they would only have had to send one team out to a definite location.
Kind regards
Jenni Miller
Reply
Hi Jenni,
Yes it was with the coastguard that I registered my PLB. I can see where one would have been very useful to your on your ride. It is my intention once things are sorted better here, to ride stretches of the Cambrians and Breacon beacons. When I do embark on these rides, I intend to take my PLB with me. The same thing applies to long rides in areas such as the Brecfa forest and similar heavily forested areas. I take the view, that should the worst happen, rescue organisations will be able to find me quickly and efficently, using minimum man power and resources. Should I ever have recourse to use it......and I sincerely hope I never do, but if I do and then am prosecuted, well I will happily go to court. I do feel that groups in particular, should have at least one with them when they are in such places just as a precaution.
But who ever it was that I registered mine with, and I cannot remember who it was, I checked my paper work and it does not say, should have been aware of legislation. So too should the Maritime and Coastguard agency with whom it is registered for horse riding. But neither appears to know, or care. I bought mine as I said in the US. I would recommend every serious rider and walker have one. In terms of hours, resources and man power saved, not to mention lives.....they are invaluable. As you yourself said, mountain rescue would not have needed to send two teams.
Yours,
Sherry
Added 12th August 2009
Emails from a walker
Dear Jenni,
I would like to add my voice to your organisation's campaign to get PLBs legalised for land use in the UK.
My decision is based on experience gained whilst involved in the emergency rescue of a friend - who'd suffered a heart attack.
My companion and I were heading for Scafell Pike summit. He suddenly stopped - and I realised he was having a heart attack. I needed help quickly. No one responded to my emergency whistle...and I was unable to get a mobile signal at the site of the incident.
So,I had no alternative but to leave him - alone - and climb higher until I got a signal. Thankfully, I eventually did...the air ambulance arrived...and my companion was treated on the spot by a doctor...then flown to hospital. Thanks to the emergency services' prompt response he suffered only minor heart damage.
At the time of the incident I praised the fact that - with no one else around to help - I'd been able to call the emergency services on my mobile (even though I'm the sort of guy who makes £10 of airtime last for several years!).
When I got back home I started thinking:
If I'd been out walking alone and I'd had a heart attack I'd have been unable to climb higher in order to pick up a mobile signal.
The CROW Act means more keen walkers are heading ‘off path'to explore new terrain...so are less likely to meet fellow walkers...if they get into difficulties.
Then I read about PLBs.
Firstly their use means there is no need to litter the hills with phone masts in order to ensure you can get a signal. So, maybe organisations like The Friends of The Lake District and National Park Authoritites might be more ready to support legalisation to allow the legal use of PLBs on land?
Secondly, I believe that as you can't use them as a mobile phone it's likely that only keen walkers and horse riders will buy them.
Therefore, once triggered it's unlikely that the emergency services will turn out to find that it's not a heart attack victim they are attending - but someone who can't find the holiday cottage they've rented!!
Food for thought:
If I couldn't have got a mobile signal that day my friend might well have died. If I'd been on my own and I'd had a heart attack...well I'd probably have died.
Yes, I believe a registration system for PLBs makes sense. And as there's no subscription payment for their use (unlike sat phone) why not introduce a low cost insurance scheme to refund the costs of call-outs deemed to be frivolous by the emergency services.
A mobile phone does have the advantage of enabling one to report the victim's condition. So, does a sat phone - but that's an expensive alternative.
Until China starts using its satellite network to market sat., phones at pay-as-you-go subsription prices I believe PLBs are the answer. If China does...well the problem of frivolous call-outs will once again be top of the agenda.
Thanks for reading. I meet many riders whilst out walking in remote locations and can well understand your organisation's reasons for campaigning for the legal use of PLBs in the UK. Good luck!
Dave C
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Hi Dave,
Thank you for your words of encouragement. If you look in our forum there is a section for PLBs and an update earlier this year that we expect PLB's to be available for legal use towards the end of this year. There is also a Radio 4 interview on You and Yours you may like to listen to (see Success!).
Kind regards
Jenni Miller
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Thanks Jenni - I've taken up your suggestions...and listened to your broadcast. Sounds very positive. Well done!
Nevertheless, timescales for the implementation of such projects have a habit of slipping (I speak from personal experience). So, I will now be adding a little pressure from the walkers' perspective too!
Keep up the good work!
16th July 2009
Link to interview on BBC Radio 4 You and Yours
10th April 2009
Government response to E-Petition
We just recieved a government resonse to the e-petition and it can be viewed here
A measure of our success
29th September 2008
