BEACONS MORE POPULAR

New data from Maritime NZ’S Rescue Coordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) shows Kiwis are taking safety seriously as greater numbers head outdoors – distress beacon registrations in December 2020 were up almost 30% on the previous year, with more than 2,000 registered.

RCCNZ Deputy Manager Operations, Neville Blakemore, says “having a beacon increases your chances of survival as it gives early notification of your location and situation. It enhances and speeds up the rescue – effectively it takes the search out of search and rescue.”

The range of beacon use was demonstrated recently when, in one day, RCCNZ responded to five alerts: two people clinging to an upturned dinghy; a person in a Kahurangi National Park hut who had had a medical event; a motor-cyclist who crashed in the hills north of

Naseby; a person who had become violently unwell on the Hump Track; and a tramper who’d become isolated and disoriented on the Te Araroa Trail.

“A beacon signal is picked up from almost anywhere and a response commences immediately,” says Blakemore. “In all these instances there was a helicopter with the people within the hour.”

Many people find cell phones have no coverage when they need help. “Cell phone coverage is patchy, but a beacon is picked up by a satellite – it makes a big difference when it really matters. The same goes for people using kayaks and stand-up paddle boards, who may not think of themselves as boaties but can easily end up being dragged out to sea by currents and winds before they know it.”

To register your beacon, or for more information, visit: www.beacons.org.nz