Posts: 282
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It has been a most stressful few weeks and today I am ready to pull my hair out! My father-in-law fell at his "fishing man cave", broke his hip and laid there for two days before his wife drove out and found him! Cell phones apparently do not work out there so he couldn't reach anybody for help. He will be alright but whew! I shudder to think of the what coulda beens. Just a little to close!! I figure if I want the truth about a product, service, etc., YOU guys, Puna Webbers are amongst the most tell it like it is people I know. My favorite kind! What I'm looking for is any and all input from any of you have or know some one who has experience with any of these service providers. I nearly fell out when the Life lock rep. burned up an hour of my time before informing me of the fabulous deal of only $99.99 a month and a "one time fee" of only $199.00! That seems a lot steep for people on a limited income! Would appreciate any and all comments as this is new territory for me. Incidentally they live in Texas and his passion is fishing on the Gulf of Mexico so he needs something fairly portable and that works where cell phones (or at least his) don't work. Many thanks!
Posts: 1,955
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If there is no cell service, Ham radio or satellite phone
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Joined: Jun 2011
This is not a recommendation for a specific product, however here is a link to get your started:
http://www.inreachdelorme.com/. Only about 10% of the planet is covered by cell service, the rest of the world can only use satellite (or wired) phone communication. The kicker is that even satellite phones or panic buttons have a lot of places they don't work, so the best devices can use both or either services. Most of the higher end SOS devices have a method of sending out ping signals so if somebody doesn't check in and can't be reachable, their last known location is available. Unfortunately, even with today's technology there is no sure thing. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was sending out signals, was being tracked by radar, and was a big enough chunk of metal and technology to be seen by satellites, but we still haven't found it a year and a half later.
Sorry to hear about your father-in-law and best hopes for a speedy recovery.
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You might be interested in the products this company has to offer:
http://www.findmespot.com/en/
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My experience has been that if a person falls down and lays there for 2 days, they are not going to use any kind of alert device !!
I bought my Mom a Jitterbug phone,an Alert system and had home healthcare come there every day!
She never used any of that !!!
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We got my MIL the Great Call device, plus put the app on her cell. The great call uses Verizon I think, her cell was ATT. The one time she fell, she didn't use either
Now she lives with a daughter and we shut it off. Just has her cell, but she doesn't walk around with it.
David
Ninole Resident
Please visit vacation.ninolehawaii.com
Ninole Resident
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I used to hike to very remote areas exploring the lava flows where there was no cell signal. I carried a personal locating beacon for emergencies. Each device is registered in the person's name with NOAA and the signal can be picked up by American or Russian satellites anywhere in the world. The information is then relayed to local rescue departments which can pinpoint the gps location and home in on the signal. The registration is free and has to be updated every two years. I bought my first beacon when they first became available for hikers more than ten years ago for $1000. A few years later, I replaced it with a more advanced one for $500. Today they sell for about $250. Breaking an ankle five miles from the road would have been a death sentence and I was glad to have one with me. It has to be activated by the user and be able to see the sky. It can work in a forest, but it may take longer for the signal to get through, depending on how dense the canopy is. It is similar to this one:
http://www.amazon.com/ACR-PLB-375-ResQLink-Personal-Locating/dp/B006JXY0CQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446136488&sr=8-1&keywords=acr
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Thanks for the "coconut to the head" Lavarat! It jogged my memory to a more economical satellite gps made by Spot, or findmespot.com. I considered one back when my Pop took an 8 mile "walk" at 83 ending up at a fire station where somebody knew me and called. He "just wanted a glass of water" but in reality didn't know where the heck he was. Instead of buying one, I chose to venture into the journey of trying to understand dementia and Alzheimer's with his "go to h..." attitude by his side as much as I could with work time. Best of luck in finding a solution to give peace of mind.
Community begins with Aloha
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Not really sure how practical this is for your application and it has been a few years since I spent a lot of time working in a marine environment, so my knowledge may be dated. But, EPRBs are [used to be?] common on life jackets and exposure suits to locate people lost at sea during sinkings and other mishaps. They are activated by the wearer, then detected and located by satellites.
Something similar to these units might be usable on land.
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Was a Democrat until gun control became a knee jerk, then a Republican until the crazies took over, back to being a nonpartisan again.
This time, I can no longer participate in the primary.
VHF radio or maybe look into modern "walkie talkies". Range on these is pretty amazing now.
aloha,
pog
