May 2008 - Technology triumphed over adversity in the great outdoors when an outdoor adventurer was rescued from a remote Scottish highland after using SPOT, the World’s first satellite messenger system, to alert emergency services.

Niels Vinther, was rescued after he sent a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) message to a SPOT emergency call centre from his location in Glen Etive, 15 miles south of Fort William in Scotland. The Danish man, who currently lives in Sunderland, had pressed the emergency button when he became incapacitated with acute abdominal pain whilst attempting a coast-to-coast trek across Scotland.

On June 30, 2008 during a summer backpacking trip in California’s Kings Canyon National Park, 52 year old George from Palo Alto, found himself suffering from acute abdominal pains on day ten of the two hundred and twenty three mile hike along the John Muir Wilderness Trail while setting up camp at 7:30 pm. Hours later, at approximately after 11:00 pm, George’s pain worsened which led him to end his trek early, and initiate an emergency alert with his SPOT Satellite Messenger.

SPOT Satellite Messenger Sends Distress Message and GPS Location of Remote Workers to Emergency Responders; Stranded Snowmobilers Brought to Safety

February 5, 2008 – SPOT Rescue Alert (SRA) - Two stranded snowmobilers were rescued from a remote location outside of Grand Junction, Co. on Tuesday night after pressing 9-1-1 on their SPOT™ Satellite Messengers. Will Eisemann and Mike Kelley of Grand Junction, Colorado were riding back from servicing a communication tower at 8,500’ 500 feet in a remote area when they got drawn off course due to white-out snow conditions with nightfall setting.

GPS Device Sends Location Data and Alert Message to Emergency Responders

January 7, 2008 – SPOT Rescue Alert (SRA) When Natalie Bertsch bought her husband a GPS-enabled SPOT™ Satellite Messenger for Christmas, little did she know that only a week later he would use SPOT while coming to the aid of four friends swept away in an avalanche near Laramie, Wyoming. On Jan. 2, 2008, Brian Bertsch contacted an emergency 9-1-1 call center by pressing a single button on his handheld SPOT.

Rescuers Locate Injured Man Using GPS Coordinates and Airlift Him to Nearby Hospital

September 23, 2008 – SPOT Rescue Alert (SRA): On August 22, 2008 experienced hiker and Canadian oil analyst Michael Ervin, set off to enjoy a backcountry wilderness trip to the base of Mount Assiniboine, one of the highest and most distinctive peaks in the Canadian Rockies outside of Banff. A bad fall under the weight of his forty-five pound backpack left Mr. Ervin with a ruptured quadriceps tendon to his knee, unable to put any weight on his leg and 10 kilometers from the nearest road with no cell phone coverage.

“I heard a loud snap from my leg and could see my knee cap hanging loose, lower than usual,” said Michael Ervin, President of fuel-analysis firm MJ Ervin & Associates of Calgary. “I was experiencing shock and knew I was unable to walk. I needed real help and pressed the 9-1-1 button on my SPOT Satellite Messenger to notify emergency responders of my GPS location coordinates.”

The SPOT Satellite Messenger™ is a personal safety device which enables users to communicate via satellite technology from remote locations around the globe and initiate check-in and emergency response calls independently of cellular networks.

August 10, 2008 - Group leaders participating in the ‘Abbots Way’ walk across Dartmoor, Devon have hailed the SPOT Satellite Messenger as an essential piece of kit, after using the device to save two young walkers suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia.

The rescue is among the first documented rescues initiated by SPOT in the UK.  The device, which is rapidly growing in popularity within Europe, is the first of its kind, providing lifesaving communications technology from remote locations.

Capsized and Stranded Ocean Kayaker Rescued After Sending Distress Message and GPS Location Using SPOT Satellite Messenger

March 4, 2008 - SPOT Rescue Alert (SRA) Sea kayaker Derek Crook was rescued off of the west coast of Tasmania near the Pieman River after pressing the 9-1-1 button on his SPOT Satellite Messenger™. Crook, an experienced Canadian paddler, was attempting to circumnavigate Tasmania in a 36 day expedition when he was hit by rough seas near Conical Rocks and flung from his boat on a reef just off shore.

Snowmobile Accident Victim Rescued After SPOT Satellite Messenger Sends Distress Message and GPS Location; Wife Kept Informed and Updated on Rescue Progress

May 27, 2008 – SPOT Rescue Alert (SRA) Bill Hanson, a member of an experienced snowmobiling party out for some winter fun in the remote backcountry near Seward, Alaska, initiated a 9-1-1 rescue alert from his SPOT Satellite MessengerTM after two sleds collided head-on. Mr. Hanson’s friend was badly injured as result of the collision between the two, 480 pound machines approximately 150 miles from Anchorage.

The group realized that the man needed immediate medical attention and due to the severity of his injuries, they could not transport him on their own. Twenty-five miles from the nearest road, deep in Nellie Juan Canyon and without phone or radio service, Mr. Hanson initiated a 9-1-1 rescue alert from his SPOT Satellite Messenger, a personal safety device that allows users to communicate from remote locations around the globe and initiate emergency response calls independently of cellular networks.