To activate your PLB or not?

[Sparky]

We recently had a situation where we arrived at a hut late in the day to find a bed made up but the person had not returned, I am interested in people's opinions when or if you would activate a PLB (thankfully they did return a couple of hours later resolving our need to deliberate any longer)

[Travis22]

No I would not activate it without further details pointing to certain trouble. Ie. extreme weather event etc... But still Im thinking I wouldn't do it at all because someone you don't know at all isn't with their gear ATM. I think I'd look for a different means of communication with the authorities if they hadn't returned the next day etc...

So many variables. I'd need more information to base my decision from and I'd want some firm evidence of trouble to trigger a PLB.

Travis

[Travis22]

Did you tell the person(s) about your groups worry about them leaving their gear behind with no information about their intentions and your thoughts of activating your PLB for them? Would be interested in hearing their thoughts too..

Travis.

[JIM1]

I'd leave it be, if they didn't return by morning I'd have a look for some ID and pass on any info to police and leave a note with there gear to say authorities have been notified as it can be out of behaviour. There are folks out there who turn up to camp, dump there gear and head of for many hours with a day pack.

If it was that remote I had no way to contact the outside world, I would do a sweep of the area to see if they have become lost going to the toilet etc, worst case stay a while and see if they come back if the gear looks fresh and not abandoned. Also leave a bit of water and meal if you can spare it, if there lost or wandered off you can bet they will try to get back to there gear before trying to get out/get help.

[wildwalks]

I was able to phone for a police search in a kinda similar situation. We were base camped and there was a group of 4 young kids and one adult camped nearby. In the evening I noticed they where missing, teddy bears and sleeping bags and all still in the tents. We did a search of the nearby ridges and valleys found nothing. First light we climbed out and called police. A chopper came in and found them on a ridge not to far from camp - lost, cold and very very thankful.
This was easier to make the call as I had seen them, knew there where young kids involved and the gear remaining suggest an unplanned night out.
Some other walkers in camp got very upset that I was going to call the police (others helped with the search), I found the man's wifes number in his tent - called and she was very upset about calling the police as well.
But I was not willing in this case to let it go -- and it turned out to be the right call this time.
I had the advantaged that the situation made me wait a night because of the lack of a PLB (this was over 15 years ago) -- would have been harder if I had a PLB and no phone I think.
It is a hard one to know when to trigger a PLB in this kind of situation. One of the reasons I like to carry a 2-way messenger so I can send for help - but give information about why we need it - so the search team can make the decision based on more information.

Matt

[Strider]

I found the man's wifes number in his tent - called and she was very upset about calling the police as well.

I wonder why? It's not like there would have been any harm done should it have turned out to be unnecessary. Maybe she was under the impression she had to pay for the search?

[GPSGuided]

We recently had a situation where we arrived at a hut late in the day to find a bed made up but the person had not returned...

So many variables indeed! But I would come back to the definition of distress for PLB activation. Was it a life and death situation? If it was during the milder seasons, staying exposed overnight is not a life or death situation. The decision would only become more critical if there's adverse weather or evidence to suggest that life is under threat.

[wayno]

We recently had a situation where we arrived at a hut late in the day to find a bed made up but the person had not returned...

So many variables indeed! But I would come back to the definition of distress for PLB activation. Was it a life and death situation? If it was during the milder seasons, staying exposed overnight is not a life or death situation. The decision would only become more critical if there's adverse weather or evidence to suggest that life is under threat.

if the weather is bad enough, could pay to signal an emergency.... if they havent left a heap of clothing behind and the weather is mild, then its unlikely they'd be in that much danger other than having an uncomfortable night out... down to judgment really..

[wildwalks]

I found the man's wifes number in his tent - called and she was very upset about calling the police as well.

I wonder why? It's not like there would have been any harm done should it have turned out to be unnecessary. Maybe she was under the impression she had to pay for the search?

Her quote was something like 'he is an experienced bushman - don't you dare call rescue he will be fine'. I suspect that it is the danger of pride.
She did send me a thank you letter and a box of chocolates a few weeks later
It would have been embarrassing if they were fine and planning to be out -- but my rational is that it would have been hard to face the coroner and say - yes I was worried but choose not to act. The evidence I had was that there was a real risk of life and I was comfortable I was acting responsibly. Even if I was wrong they they planned the night out - I still think the call would have been 'right' with the information I had.

It is an interesting discussion.

I have called for rescue in the bush a few times now (for people in other parties) - but always been able to phone or message. I have not faced the decision to trigger a PLB yet (hope I never need to) - but the PLB trigger is a harder decision in a more vague situation.

AMSA says "Distress beacons should only be used when there is a threat of grave and imminent danger" This is a helpful but also vague rational. If you carefully consider the information you have at hand and believe there is a "threat of grave and imminent danger" then is seems reasonable to trigger it. I believe that responding to the occasional misguided trigger is ultimately much cheaper (financially, social and environmentally) the then conducting a delayed search and rescue. Every day a search is delayed the cost goes up significantly.
To me the issue is when do you trigger the PLB? If you do it that night when it is dark - the chances are the chopper will come out but have limited capabilities to search till morning, but then they can prepare for a search at first light. But if we trigger at first light then the the first search day is much shorter. I guess this is why I really like two-way messenger systems - you can have this conversation much more easily.

Matt

[wayno]

in NZ at least.. emergency services dont mind false alarms too much, they prefer people to be safer than sorry, as long as you're not calling them out because you were too lazy to wait out a situation you could have waited out...

[GPSGuided]

I guess this is why I really like two-way messenger systems - you can have this conversation much more easily.

Bring a Sat phone or a HF transceiver.

[Sparky]

Thanks for the various considered responses, to give a bit more detail the person was a lone female walker and our guess was that her plan that day would be to do Frenchman's cap and then return to the lake Vera hut as the majority of her kit was obviously in the hut. Weather conditions were clear but very cold and we had no idea how capable or prepared she was. It was a couple of hours after dark and for what is normally a 10 hour round trip we expected she should have been back.
It would have been great to have the luxury of phone coverage or a Spot messenger and then the decision about what to do and when could have been put in the hands of emergency services.
We were discussing if to set it off and at what time, I know we wouldn't have felt good had a simple mishap turned into something far more serious and we chose to do nothing.
As it happened she arrived none the worse for wear a few hours after dark and was apologetic but appreciative that we were concerned for her safety. Anyway no problem so all good.
She did say maybe she should have left a note of her intentions at the hut.
We did the Cap the next day and she walked out leaving a nice message in the logbook thanking the friendly locals for looking out for the solo female walker.

[Gadgetgeek]

Leaving a note at your basecamp would certainly help someone else make that decision. But I'll fall on the side of caution on this one. If there is no note, and I have any reasonable expectation that someone is in danger, I'd push the button. I guess it would really come down to what was left behind, and what sort of day it was, but I'd err on the side of caution. Who knows, it could be leftover kit from someone who got rescued the day before. Expensive way to find out, but better to know. Obviously in this case a two-way communication is a better option, but I'll assume for the sake of argument that isn't possible here.