Summer Heat Means More Weather Rescues

From rachelle Oblack

If you are an outdoor-type person, you may already have plans to do some hiking, camping, and boating. But dangers lurk in the summer heat. While everyone needs to be aware of the heat index, there are other summer dangers. Being in a remote location is one surefire way to end up in a dangerous situation. Most weather rescues involving Emergency Location Beacons occur in the summer.

- In 2007, 87 rescues were made in the winter between January and March, but 111 people were saved in the summer between June and August.
- In 2003, 24 rescues occurred between January and March, but during the June – August period that number quadrupled to 96 lives saved.

Emergency rescue technology has come a long way. Essentially, satellites can detect and locate a distress signal from a COSPAS-SARSAT enabled location beacon. The US Air Force or Coast Guard can be deployed to those distress calls. Through May 2008, 139 people have been rescued so far in the United States. Last year, a record 353 people were rescued from potentially life-threatening emergencies. Read more on buying, using, and understanding how a personal location beacon works.

See Rachel' s blog