Hill and mountain walkers urged to register for emergency SMS text service

[+currykev]

I can only see this as a positive idea for us that venture out and about. Especially those that walk alone while caching.

Please read the info and act as you wish.

 

The basics here

 

Read and Register here

[team tisri]

Looks like a good idea, although if mobile signal is very weak who knows how long it will be before a text is actually sent or received?

 

It does mean that all you need is a momentary availability of service to get the message out, rather than a strong enough signal to be heard giving details of the problem and precise location.

[+TeamTunsKeen]

good idea this as i do cache alone and have found myself in some remote places.

[+The Chaos Crew]

This does look like a good idea for when signal is weak or erratic

 

For some reason I thought you already could text 999, I didn’t realise you have to register first

 

The only thing that bothers me is on the Q&A on the site itself it says:

 

Q. Do I have to be deaf to register?

A. No, the service is for people who cannot make voice calls because they have a hearing loss or a speech impairment.

So I wonder if those of us who are not deaf and do not have a problem with hearing loss / speech impairment are really eligible ?

[+redsox_mark]

The article in the first link says "The emergency SMS service was established originally for deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people."

 

So it seems to say that now everyone can use it (and probably the Q&A has not been updated).

[+NickandAliandEliza]

The article in the first link says "The emergency SMS service was established originally for deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people."

 

So it seems to say that now everyone can use it (and probably the Q&A has not been updated).

 

It's primary use is still aimed at the deaf, hearing impaired etc. There is already this sort of service for hill walkers but I can't remember what it's called. I'm sure someone else will.

[+Cache U Nutter]

The article in the first link says "The emergency SMS service was established originally for deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people."

 

So it seems to say that now everyone can use it (and probably the Q&A has not been updated).

 

It's primary use is still aimed at the deaf, hearing impaired etc. There is already this sort of service for hill walkers but I can't remember what it's called. I'm sure someone else will.

 

Last year I was on a remote Scottish mountain when a member of our party broke her leg whilst on our way down. Fortunately we did have a good signal but it still took over 2hrs before the chopper arrived to rescue us by which time we were very cold and suffering first signs of hyperthemia.

Had we had limited or no phone coverage things could have been very serious.

This is a GREAT idea and I will forward details to my climbing club.

[+NickandAliandEliza]

I can only see this as a positive idea for us that venture out and about. Especially those that walk alone while caching.

Please read the info and act as you wish.

 

The basics here

 

Read and Register here

 

I was pretty sure this was only for the hard of hearing etc, but got this reply when I asked them direct;

 

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Thank you for your enquiry regarding the emergency SMS service.

 

While the emergencySMS service is primarily designed for people who are deaf and speech-impaired there are other situations where it could be used. However, it is important to understand the limitations of the service.

 

Firstly, as it uses SMS, delivery of messages cannot be guaranteed and secondly, it is necessary to send a number of messages before help is sent. The last point is very important because people imagine that if one SMS message gets through, help will be on its way. This is not the case as the emergency services need to ask questions about your location and the nature of the problem. If the emergency service does not receive a response to their questions, no action will be taken. This exchange of SMS messages means that making a voice 999 call will always be quicker.

 

If you are situated in the mountains where the mobile coverage is patchy and there is a likelihood that only one message will get through, I would always suggest sending an SMS message to someone who knows you, your route, and can contact 999 on your behalf.

 

If you do publicise the service please ensure that people understand the limitations and that they visit www.emergencySMS.org.uk for more information.

 

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It looks as if this is a standard letter, as I found the same reply on another forum when I searched. It's not exactly a come on in you're welcome, but still looks like currykev has found something useful (for once )

[+Pharisee]

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If you are situated in the mountains where the mobile coverage is patchy and there is a likelihood that only one message will get through, I would always suggest sending an SMS message to someone who knows you, your route, and can contact 999 on your behalf.

 

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That's something I've been doing for a long time. All of my extended trips into 'the boonies' are by myself so I always let my sister (she's the sensible one in my family) know what I'm at. I'll text her the OS grid ref. of my parking place and the grid ref. of where I expect to be in an hour or so's time. I'll up-date that info periodically (subject to there being a signal of sufficient strength) so if anything should happen, she'll have waypoints of my actual route and where I was heading for next. It only takes a couple of minutes and it stops her worrying too much about her daft older brother

[+NickandAliandEliza]

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If you are situated in the mountains where the mobile coverage is patchy and there is a likelihood that only one message will get through, I would always suggest sending an SMS message to someone who knows you, your route, and can contact 999 on your behalf.

 

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That's something I've been doing for a long time. All of my extended trips into 'the boonies' are by myself so I always let my sister (she's the sensible one in my family) know what I'm at. I'll text her the OS grid ref. of my parking place and the grid ref. of where I expect to be in an hour or so's time. I'll up-date that info periodically (subject to there being a signal of sufficient strength) so if anything should happen, she'll have waypoints of my actual route and where I was heading for next. It only takes a couple of minutes and it stops her worrying too much about her daft older brother

 

I was sure that there's a service similar to this already specifically for outdoorsey types. I can't find it on Google and I can't for the life of me think what it's called. I think you have to pay for it though. It's something along the lines of sending automatic text messages to nominated trusted loved ones if you get into problems or don't text that you're safe by a certain time. Did I just dream this?