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KC2GMM > NOAA 19.01.08 20:09l 54 Lines 2515 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Emerg Beac Freq to Change 1/2
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From: KC2GMM@N1URO.#WMA.MA.USA.NOAM
To : NOAA@USBBS
NOAA Satellites Help Rescue 353 People in 2007
Emergency Beacons to Soon Operate Under New Frequency
January 17, 2008
Personal locator beacons.
Armed with personal locator beacons to send a distress signal, 353 people
were rescued in the United States and its surrounding waters in 2007 from
potentially life-threatening emergencies. These signals were transmitted
to rescue teams via a NOAA environmental satellite more commonly known for
providing information to weather forecasters.
NOAA’s polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites, along with Russia’s
Cospas spacecraft, are part of the high-tech, international Search and
Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System, called COSPAS-SARSAT. This system
uses a network of satellites to quickly detect and locate distress signals
from emergency beacons on board aircraft and boats and from handheld
personal locator beacons (PLBs).
Now in its 25th year of operation, COSPAS-SARSAT has been credited with
more than 22,000 rescues worldwide, including more than 5,700 in the
United States and its surrounding waters.
"Each person rescued was a tragedy averted," Mary Kicza, assistant
administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "This
satellite-based rescue program is a key NOAA contribution to protecting
American lives."
When a satellite pinpoints a distress location within the United States,
or its surrounding waters, the information is relayed to SARSAT Mission
Control at NOAA’s Satellite Operations Center in Suitland, Md., and then
sent to a Rescue Coordination Center, operated either by the U.S. Air
Force, for land rescues, or U.S. Coast Guard, for water rescues.
Alaska and Florida recorded the most rescues in 2007 – 73 each. North
Carolina was third with 16 rescues. Twenty-four states experienced a
SARSAT rescue. Of the 353 rescues for 2007, 235 people were saved at sea,
30 were rescued from downed aircraft, and 88 were saved with help from
their PLBs — the highest total since PLBs became operational nationwide in
2003. The total rescues in 2007 mark an increase from 272 the previous
year.
"Anyone with plans to hike, or camp, in a remote area, where cell phone
service is not reliable, or sail a boat far from shore, should not leave
home without an emergency locator beacon, registered with NOAA," said
Chris O’Conners, acting program manager for NOAA SARSAT. He added the
number of beacon registrations in 2007 climbed to 29,710 compared with
23,383 in 2006.
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