The TET in Europe or many regions in countries/continents such as the USA, South America or Africa promise endless expanses and beautiful gravel roads. However, they all have one thing in common and that is no available cell phone network to call for help in the event of an accident. This is where satellite devices with an SOS function come into play. You press the ominous button and rescue is on its way - at least that's the promise made by the manufacturers of various devices, who charge a monthly flat rate for this service.
Does such a device really help in an emergency or is it a waste of money, as has been documented in many cases where help never came?
In this article, we assume that the device has been set up correctly, sends a corresponding message to the operator of the emergency service in the event of an emergency and that the processes it properly. For the sake of readability - and since we use it ourselves - we will use Garmin as a representative example here. However, the same problems apply to all providers.
So how does a rescue chain work with a Garmin?
If you press the SOS button, a message with the GPS coordinates is automatically sent to the Garmin Response Team. This team tries to organize help immediately. Depending on the device type, you can communicate with this team during this time (2-way communication device).
The Garmin operations center uses the GPS coordinates to try to contact the appropriate rescue units on site and they set off as quickly as possible.
However, it is precisely at this point that it is decided whether you will ever get help or, in the best case, whether you will be annoyed at having paid a lot for "nothing".
In order to be able to organize help quickly, the appropriate infrastructure must be available near the scene of the accident. And this is often not available outside Europe and North America (even here it is often difficult). This was confirmed to us in many conversations with locals and we also had to experience this first-hand when we attended an accident as first responders.
Although there are official rescue units in these regions, they often only have very limited resources to cover a huge area. It can therefore take several hours before a rescue vehicle is free - if they can get to the scene of the accident at all, as not all roads are always clear and passable.
In other areas, the emergency vehicles only drive up to a defined limit (e.g. city limits). If the accident happens after that, you wait in vain or are dependent on help from others. We had to experience this ourselves as first responders. After we had freed one of the accident victims from the car, we asked a few people whether the emergency services had already been called. The answer was simple and pragmatic: "No ambulance will come here on this road"! After we had bandaged the almost completely severed hand of the accident victim, we placed it on a passing 125cc moped. A moped rider in front and the injured, almost unconscious woman as a pillion passenger behind her and behind her husband, who held her on the moped. So it was 25km and at least 45 minutes down a winding mountain road to the nearest hospital.
To summarize, it can be said that satellite devices significantly increase the chances of getting help. However, there is definitely no guarantee that you will get the help you need.
What are your experiences with these devices?
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