Originally Posted: July 2024
My wife and I have been carrying some type of SOS device on all of our backcountry trips for more than 10 years. Our first device was an ACR personal locator beacon, which we purchased soon after a friend took a long fall in the Picket Range; he probably would have died if not for a nearby climbing party that had an SOS beacon. In 2018, we upgraded to an InReach satellite communicator (made by DeLorme at that time but later acquired by Garmin). We love the InReach’s two-way texting capability, which allows us to communicate with friends and family at home. Using this feature, we can let them know if we will be getting home late, we can notify them of any trouble, we can obtain weather updates, and we can change any pick-up plans. Most important, though, is the SOS button.
Two months after we purchased our InReach, my wife was hit by a rock while descending Hard Mox Peak in the American Chilliwack Mountains. Through this accident, we had our first experience with the Garmin Interactive SOS Response Team. Six years later, we dealt with Garmin’s response team again when a climbing partner had a medical emergency in the North Stehekin Mountains. The circumstances and details surrounding these two rescue operations were very different, but together they gave us valuable first-hand insight regarding exactly what happens when you push the SOS button on an InReach.
The following comments are based on our personal experiences during two separate mountain rescue operations. By sharing this information, we hope that you and your emergency contact people will be more prepared in the event of a mountain rescue. The details of your rescue might be different, but your interactions with the Garmin response team and rescue team will likely have many similar elements to ours.
Although the physical act of pushing the SOS button is extremely simple, it is important to realize that pushing the button might be emotionally difficult in an actual rescue situation. The very words “pushing the button” carry a great deal of emotional weight because it feels as though you are admitting defeat and accepting the fact that you need outside help. In both of my first-hand experiences, the injured persons were very reluctant to issue an SOS and needed to be coaxed or overruled by other party members. In a separate incident, one of my climbing partners was involved in a critical situation wherein one of the uninjured party members refused to push the SOS button, wanting instead to initiate a rescue via personal texting. A death was barely averted through this arrogance.
When you push the SOS button, a notification is immediately sent to the Garmin SOS Response Team. Upon receiving this notification, the response team will call your cell phone to see if the SOS was triggered by accident (the time delay depends on the prevailing satellite signal). Accidental triggering probably happens more than you think; I once accidentally triggered an SOS at home and greatly appreciated the confirmation phone call! Garmin will also send a message to your InReach device asking you to either confirm or cancel the SOS. If you confirm, they will ask a few clarification questions, such as: What is the emergency? Who is injured? Is the person stable?
Once the Garmin SOS Response Team understands the situation, they will contact the jurisdiction responsible for your rescue. This jurisdiction could be the local county sheriff, the National Park Service, or some other agency. It is important to realize that the InReach is designed to work anywhere in the world. Although I have never initiated a rescue outside of the USA, I have read testimonials from people who did have successful rescues in other countries.
Next, Garmin will call the emergency contact phone numbers designated in your account file. It is a good idea to provide both a primary emergency contact person and a secondary emergency contact person when setting up your account. Because many people don’t pick up phone calls from unknown callers, it is imperative that your emergency contacts know what to expect. The following is a typical voicemail message: Hi, this message is for XXX. This is XXX with the Garmin SOS Response Team. I’m calling because we received an SOS activation from a Garmin device registered to XXX, and you are listed as an emergency contact. If you wouldn’t mind, please give us a call back at XXX. Thank you.
While the Garmin SOS Response Team is working with the rescue team in your jurisdiction, they will contact you by text message every few minutes to make sure the situation has not changed, to get an update on the injured person, and to verify that you still want to go forward with the rescue. Once a local rescue team has been established, Garmin will hand the operation off to them. You will get a text message from the Garmin stating that a local team will be contacting you directly. You should get a message from the local rescue team within minutes.
When your InReach is in SOS mode, it might be confusing as to how you can get back to the text messages. Fortunately, it’s easy: just click the BACK button a couple of times. You might get a screen asking if you want to cancel the SOS. Do not click the CANCEL button. Instead, click the BACK button to see the string of messages. It is also important to note that with an InReach, you are able to cancel an SOS up to the point at which the rescue team is in the air.
The local rescue team will begin communicating with you to gather as much information as they can in order to make the rescue as efficient as possible. They will start by determining the condition of the injured person. Is the individual bleeding? Is anything broken? Does he/she need a litter? Can he/she walk?
The rescue team will want to pinpoint your location. They already have your GPS coordinates, but they are looking for information regarding identifiable landmarks and distances. Provide details such as: We are 200 feet down from the ridge crest on the south side of the mountain, and 0.4 miles due west of the summit. They will also ask about your surroundings. Is there a spot to land a helicopter? What are the winds like? Is the landing zone on snow, rock, or soil? What is the condition of the snow? What is the current air temperature? Soon, the rescue team will get back to you with an estimated helicopter arrival time.
If there is not a good spot to land a helicopter nearby, the rescue team will inform you that the injured person will need to be short-hauled to a suitable helicopter landing zone. In this case, the rescue members will be lowered by a cable, and then they and the injured person will be hauled by cable to the selected landing zone, at which point they can all board the helicopter. Needless to say, this becomes a thrilling ride for the injured person.
Once the injured person has been taken away by the helicopter or ground crew and is en route to the nearest hospital, Garmin will continue to send you messages until you switch off the SOS feature on your InReach. Also be aware that when your InReach is in SOS mode, only the messaging function is active; most or all other functions be deactivated. Turning off the SOS will allow you to reactivate route-tracking and other functions.
In any rescue situation, be calm and patient, and remember that mountain rescues can take time to execute. Rest assured that no one is going to forget about you. A rescue for a minor injury (such as a broken ankle) will likely take longer than a critical injury (such as a severe bleeding wound). Once you hit the SOS button, you have started the ball rolling and it will continue rolling until the injured person is en route to a hospital.
From the perspective of our own emergency contacts, the Garmin SOS Response Team was extremely informative. Garmin called them not only when the SOS was initiated but again when the rescue helicopter was en route to us and then a third time when the injured person was delivered to the hospital. Our emergency contacts were also able to call Garmin at any time to get updates on the rescue status.
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>>> For more information about Garmin Rescue Services and Devices, see their website at the following link: inReach Satellite Communicators
>>> The Garmin InReach Mini 2 satellite communicator and other Garmin devices are available at REI, Backcountry, and other sporting goods stores.
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Affiliate Disclosure: The preceding product links contain affiliate connections, which means that if you purchase something from these links, I might get a small commission at no additional cost to you. Be assured, though, that my comments presented above are unbiased and are based on my personal experience with a product that I own.
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