Sat Phones a necessity for aged travellers??.

Not just "aged", Axle. Misfortune can befall anyone, even an invincible 18yo :-)

I think a Spot device or similar, and a satphone, are reasonable pre-requisites for remote area travel, even for a short trip.

Own them if you're a regular, hire them if you're not.

Cheers

Gidday axle

Good insurance I reckon. Get one and you are almost certain never to need it it, just like all that other stuff we carry when we go remote.

Without one ..


Cheers

G/Day Axle 3 weeks ago 2 mates and my old man were due to do our annual fishing trip, we normally go to Arnhemland, but this year we decided to do something different but still remote.

3 days before we go Dad ( 70 ) had a bit of a turn, luckily he just pushed himself to hard doing some work on my sisters house, but still we were going remote, the doctor was relieved to know that I had 2 sat phones 2 EPIRBs and 2 people with remote first aid, I also have care flight on speed dial.

At the end of the day we had a great time, fishing was crap, and we all returned in good health.

Hi Axle
We have been travelling outback for many years, so have had a few recoveries over the years.
We travel with a SPOT unit (tracking our position every 5 minutes) - this is great or family & friends to follow our trips. Of course, SPOT has a Help button & an SOS button. So far we haven't had to use either of these.
We also travel with a SAT phone. We used the SAT phone to recover a broken down vehicle in our convoy via RACV Total Care when travelling in far east Victoria. Getting RACV to call us back on the SAT phone created a few issues, but the recovery was successful.
We also travel with an HF radio. Our engine blew up when travelling west of Nullarbor. A call to VKS737 in Adelaide worked well. They rang RACV to log our break down. RACV then referred the breakdown to the RA in South Australia. The RA then referred the breakdown to the Nullarbor Roadhouse mechanic. We stayed on the HF call to VKS737 for about 20 minutes while all this was being organised. Our recovery was successful.
All emergency units have their uses. Travelling a lot on our own, we enjoy the peace of mind by travelling with all 3 emergency units.
Which one would I recommend? Well it depends on the circumstances - if we rolled our 4WD, then most likely we wouldn't be able to use the HF as the antenna would most likely be broken (we do carry a backup antenna but it depends on whether the radio is still usable). SPOT units & epirbs are great but remember, they are a one way communication. If you push the SOS button, we will only know that it has been successful when the SES arrive (this most likely could be anything from 4 hours to 2 days). Stress levels can increase while waiting, not knowing when help will be arriving. SAT phone is 2 way, so it is great being able to talk to someone. Cost of SAT phone calls are expensive, but in an emergency situation, cost is unimportant.
So in summary, we prefer having all 3. It covers all our bases for emergency situations.
Relying on one in an emergency and finding it doesn't work, will be a huge frustration.
Enjoy the Aussie outback with good emergency assistance.

Yes a sat phone is becoming a necessity now and is the preferred means of emergency communications by many. Surprising how talking to someone even if it is over the telephone in an emergency can change the situation and bring comfort and reassurance to the persons involved

The problem with spot or a PLB is when you set it of you do not know if it has worked, how long it will be for help to arrive and are the people being sent able to help you PLUS a Spot or PLB does not offer any form of reassurance, comfort, advice, support or help.

The other good thing with a sat phone is you can seek urgent medical advise and talk to a doctor, this alone can be the difference between life and death.

Even 20 minutes waiting for help and not knowing if, when or how help is going to arrive can seem like hours if not days.

It's no use thinking after the event "if only I had a sat phone, things may of been different".

Now all we have to do is wait for all the "He Man" to reply saying you don't need it and in 30 years of travelling BLAH BLAH BLAH.......LOL

Suppose it depends on what price you put on loved ones and friend travelling with you.

People get in to a false sense of security with some devices thinking it will save me....

I've posted on the HF Vs Satphone debate a few times having owned and operated both. Both have advantages but as Satellite phone technology improves, they have become a necessity for the remote traveller I reckon.

While I'm the first to admit I go to the outback to get away from people, the ability to have reliable communications when I'm out on the Quad is a huge comfort to all, including me. Whether it's just calling back to the support crew or ringing home to check on the upcoming weather, it's a quick a reliable means of comms that outdoes everything else. SPOT and DELORME trackers rely on people actually monitoring your device. It may be several days before they check or notice an alert to their mobile. At least a satphone gives instant and confirmed response because they're talking to you.

With many of the service plans about, and the Cth Govt rebate still in place till July next year (I think), they are an affordable option.

Cheers Mick

Agree its essential and not just for the oldies in remote areas. We have a Inmarsat Pro - but no credit. With the latest software update it still gives us access to the emergency numbers. Also have HF on VKS737, Excellent service.

John

Axle,

I'm surprised your spelling hasn't been picked up.

Faeces. .???? You can look that one up.

Perhaps you meant "facetious", but even that's not really applicable.

having had to be contactable 24/7 for work I thought it would be heavenly when we retired (3 yrs ago)to be out of phone range. But the death of a grand child 6 mths before we retired made us think "how terrible if we had not been contactable for a week or more in these circumstances".
So purchased the sat phone - just used it a couple of times - short calls to family about a dollar/minute.
Initially was a $30/mth plan then went up to $37 and then discovered can use the sim from my mobile (must have global roaming activated - easy on-line). So gives us peace of mind and as a previous poster said "if you've got it you probably won't ever need it"

100% agree for remote travel. Nothing like actually talking to a medical specialist etc and getting the correct first aid for the situation at hand. Just remember that even the RFDS can't get at you for most of the Canning. No landing areas except at the ends and in the middle and a few close by remote properties or mines.

I agree that SPOT etc are excellent first contact devices can summon help AND I am in no way minimising their capabilities but you cant beat a phone for real support and advice.

Soon I am told that my cardiologist will be able to communicate with my pace maker via a satellite phone. I think he can now with the domestic hard wired system. Not sure of that but in the future - who knows.

G'day Axle,

I believe that good communications are essential, and not only for aged travellers.
-however we are in that category;))

I have always carried a sat phone and its worth was realised a few years ago when in the middle of the Western Australian desert I was able to speak to family and learn that my daughter had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Enough said, and I tracked home immediately. What of the alternative, made contact some months later to be told of the same news...

Same goes for HF and spot..better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

On this trip we have used the sat phone half a dozen times, only when out of regular contact but it does give everybody at home that warm feeling that the oldies are still going!!

-and I only have one bar on Telstra ATM....



cheers
Michael J

I was just talking to a senior ranger here in Kakadu, we were talking about a Belgium woman rescued from the top of Jim Jim falls last week, here is the readers digest version of what happened.

The woman's young adult kids went to the bottom of the falls, the mother and father went to the top ( Closed due to high temperatures ) at some point in the afternoon the kids got scared and thought they were lost, so they set off a EPIRB they also used the ECD ( emergency call device ) in the car park.

This is were the problem starts, the EPIRB call goes to Canberra and they don't call parks they call police fire ambulance, so care flight are sent, luckily this time they used the ECD and got hold of parks, parks inform Jabiru police Jabiru clinic that they needed a search and rescue mission and they set their own procedure's in place. A chopper was sent with a police officer and a park ranger to look for the lost couple, and luckily they were found as the woman was close to death, the chopper was sent to get the remote nurse on route to the falls, remember this was a lost person at the time it is now a medical emergency.

The remote nurse was able to stabilise the patient until care flight turned up, without this treatment she would have died before care flight arrived, she was then taken to Darwin and all ended with this woman surviving.

Now here is the problem with using an EPIRB as a sole use item, had there been no ECD care flight would have landed at the car park 3 kms away from were the woman was, then they would have found that they would have to start a search and rescue on there own, the police would have been on there way but no one would have known what was going on until care flight raised the alarm, this woman would not have made it.

By having the ECD or some kind of device to talk to someone, parks now had the info to know it was for a search and rescue as well which now needed more resources.