Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 17:26
Mike R
Let's clarify the help buttons here. SPOT has 2 'emergency' buttons. The Help button and the 911 button.
The HELP button will send a message to your list of email and/or mbl phone number contacts (that you set up before the start of your trip). The emergency msg will be sent to your contacts every 10 minutes for 24 hours unless you cnacel it vis
the SPOT unit. This allows your contacts to make contact with emergency
services and let them know where you are and that they need help.
The 911 button (this is the button you are referring to above) is the other emergency button. If
the SPOT user activates the 911 button, the emergency
services in the USA will be notified along with
the SPOT's last location. They will then pass is info onto the emergency
services in the country where you are located.
Both the Help & 911 buttons require
the SPOT user to push and hold the button for 5 seconds to activate.
The SPOT user can cancel either message by pressing and holding the relevant button again for 5 seconds.
Sending a normal position flashes a green light on the unit while sending a Help or 911 message flashes a red light. So you can see it is easy to see whether you have pushed and held the wrong button. Still mistakes can be made by the PICNIC!
Finally, if you request 911 assistance, then you should expect that it may be a costly exercise to recover you. So I agree with you, you would only push the 911 button if you absolutely sure you needed emergency assistance.
Laurie
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