Lost? Tech tools help but …

[Rex Sanders]

Good article in the Washington Post by Christie Aschwanden on the limits of high-tech gadgets for timely rescue:

Lost in the wilderness: Tech tools help but they don’t always find someone in time
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/lost-in-the-wilderness-tech-tools-help-but-they-dont-always-find-someone-in-time/2019/12/13/8122fd5c-bae3-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html

GPS, cellphones, thermal imaging, infrared cameras and drones have improved many aspects of search and rescue, yet finding people lost in the wild remains a stubbornly difficult task. And finding missing persons is urgent, especially if they weren’t prepared to spend the night outdoors

— Rex

[Roger Caffin]

Not to mention the time a young school boy got lost on a hillside a few km from a large town which was in view, dialed 000 (Australian 911) for help on his mobile phone and could not get the emergency line operator to listen to him. All she did was repeatedly demand the nearest cross roads and would not move on from there. He was in the middle of the bush, for crying out loud!

In the end, his battery ran out and he died of thirst.
So much for high tech mobile phones.

Cheers

[Jeff McWilliams]

Roger,

That HARDLY sounds like the fault of the technology.  It’s what happens when you put an improperly trained person, incapable of thinking for themselves, in charge of your 000 calls.

Sure, blame the young school boy.  Suppose the situation were similar, but happened in an american mountain town, and instead of lost/dehydration the boy had suffered a mountain lion attack and was unable to self evac.

Accidents and crazy stuff happens.  However, I hope that Australian 000 call center went through some SERIOUS re-training and fired that operator.

 

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Jeff
Can I reassure you that absolutely NO blame was attached to the schoolboy. None at all.
The blame fell on the operator (for pig-headed stupidity) and her supervisor (lack of training for op). Yes, there was a shake-up.

Cheers

[Jeff McWilliams]

My bad for misinterpreting the text.   Sorry.

 

 

[Roger Caffin]

No worries. Poor kid.

Cheers

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