2023 Garmin inReach® SOS Year in Review

This is always interesting to read. I actually made my first-ever SOS InReach call in 2023 while I was backpacking, due to a wildfire. Based on the information they were able to provide by contacting the local forest service, further response wasn’t necessary.

I did use my phone using the InReach app and a bluetooth connection. It could have been done on the InReach, but it would have been like sending text messages on a flip phone.

Activating SOS puts the device into SOS mode and connects you to IERCC and they ask “what is your emergency?” After I told them, they contacted “Dispatch” and were able to get me detailed information about a local wildfire that had started. I was totally surrounded by smoke with no visibility, and I wanted to know the location of the fire(s). While in SOS mode, the device is also sending coordinates to IERCC. In my case, I did not need them to send help after getting the information, so they advised me to CANCEL the SOS from my device.

I had the recent opportunity, if you call it that,  to use the SOS with Garmin.  When I refer to Garmin here, I mean the ER service they contract with.  It was not my personal emergency. The beauty of the garmin was that I could first send a text to my wife informing her that I was personally ok.  I then pressed the SOS for the first time in 10 years carrying a Garmin device.   In the background, they called my cell, no answer.  They called my wife, the second on my profile.  They asked her if it was real, where she thought we were, how many in the party, medical issues.  They then texted me back asking what the emergency was. Thanks to using a phone connected to the inreach, I could respond fast and easily.  Several back and forth texts were exchanged giving them lots of details, the level of urgency (not a helicopter), our supplies and capabilities for safely waiting for rescue.  They moved me over to local SAR (US Park Service) who then communicated directly with me via inreach with more specific questions.  All the while, the device sent our location to Garmin at regular intervals even though we were not moving.  This process took about 1o minutes with clear sky view to satellites.  Help arrived after several hours.  The SAR team were in contact with Garmin all during this time.  I could tell this by the questions being asked. When the issue was resolved, Garmin asked me to cancel the SOS on my device and called my wife back to tell her that all was well with me.  Nice touch.  In about 4 hours, the 3-4 year old Inreach mini version 1 used about 35% of its battery.  That was a wake up call to be sure it is charged and I have backup batteries if this turned out to be a long process.  Having a phone with Bluetooth is essential in making this process smooth, so having lots of charge on the phone seems essential.

Second Jerry’s comments.  It’s insightful to understand what the process is when the SOS button is pressed so that one knows what to expect.

So related story.  Here’s my ancient DeLorme InReach SE.  (From back before they were acquired by Garmin).  It still works fine.  Probably the biggest difference between this model and say, the Mini 2 is that the newer ones have a better GPS receiver that also supports the other GNSS satellites (Galileo, GLONASS) and can get a better fix or a quicker fix.

Anyways.  on this one, the “SOS” button is a sliding “locked” switch that’s now obscured under that cardboard and tape.  Why?  During a trip to Death Valley in January 2020, it was in my carry-on napsack along with my charger, cables, a book, and so on.  Somehow the SOS switch got activated as we were de-planing in DFW for our connecting flight.  As I’m walking up the jetbridge into the terminal I took my phone out of airplane mode and it immediately began ringing.  It was the IERCC trying to contact me or verify my emergency.  Embarrassed, I explained that it must have been accidentally triggered as I jostled my items getting off the plane.  They knew I was at the terminal based on my GPS location and figured it was a mistake, and they helped me de-activate the SOS.  That evening, I fashioned this protective cover, and it’s been that way ever since.