Max Garrett is a retired firefighter and avid motorcycle rider. The Arkansas Chapter Chairman of the International Association of Fire Fighters Motorcycle Group (IAFF-MG) was used to taking long rides with his group through the Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas areas. The organization was making its annual spring ride through Texas Hill Country when a portion of riders stopped to take a break near Leakey.“We actually hadn’t even realized it, but we then saw that some of our guys who had been riding towards the back of our group had gotten into an accident.” Three of the group’s riders had been injured, one more severely than the others.
With no cell phone service, some of the riders immediately set off towards Leakey to get help. Max realized he had his SPOT X with him and activated the SOS button. “I had never used the SOS button on my SPOT X and was surprised to have been contacted back by emergency response.” The emergency response center verified that first responders and EMS were on the way. “With us all being fire fighters, we were all used to seeing terrible things, and we were very concerned about the severity of the injuries.”
Once the first responders arrived at the scene, they picked up the injured party in an ambulance transporting him to an area where a helicopter would transfer him to the nearest trauma center in San Antonio. Max’s fellow rider sustained head injuries requiring a skin transfer, fractured his ribs, a broken collar bone, and lacerated liver.
While Max had originally purchased his SPOT X for its tracking and messaging functionality, the SOS option provided an additional sense of security while riding. “It was comforting to know that I could not only connect with emergency response should I ever need it, but that they also were in touch with my wife, providing her with updates in real-time.”
Max continues to ride with the IAFF-MG and has taken his Honda Goldwing through every state in the Continental U.S. except for California and Nevada. Max also travels frequently and has additionally ridden through seven Canadian provinces. “I always take my SPOT X with me.”