Backup Emergency Communications

[Lyle Brotherton]

As most of you know I carry the McMurdo 210 PLB (Personal Locator Beacon), a little unit, roughly the same size as my mobile phone, and with a guaranteed battery life of 5 years, which I would activate in an emergency when away from normal emergency services. In the UK, emergency mobile phone service coverage is good, however, there are mountainous areas where this does not currently exist (Remember network coverage is different to emergency mobile phone service coverage P352 UNM).

Inside the waterproof box that I carry my PLB, I also have another mobile phone for the reason that the battery life of my regular mobile phone is not guaranteed, for the simple reason that it is in constant use. This backup phone is an old model Nokia that I received with a now expired Vodafone contract sometime back in the 1990’s. Like Ronseal, it does what it says on the tin: phone calls and texts – no 3G coverage (no www access). It also has a Lithium rechargeable battery that from experience I know holds much of its charge for over 1 year.

I bought a £10 PAYG SIM from Vodafone, who are the world second largest terrestrial mobile phone network operators measured by number of subscribers (China Mobile being the largest) and reportedly the greatest global network coverage.

Effectively, this backup mobile phone costs me nothing (unless I phone or text) and in an emergency if my regular mobile is inoperable, for whatever reason, ranging from being lost to flat batteries, in an emergency I can in the first instance use this backup mobile phone to attempt to call the emergency services.

[Callum]

Good posting Lyle. Whilst there is lots of literature out there from route guides to navigation techniques , none really comprehensively address this subject.

Your 4 of Diamonds technique is most certainly a method I regularly employ now, however, I would be keen to learn more about what folk actually carry and why - I will show you mine, if you will show me yours

[Lyle Brotherton]

Sure thing Cal

I never venture anywhere without this box and carry it on my person, not in my rucksack. The amount of mountain rescue incidents I have attended where people have become separated from their rucksacks convinced me of this.

In addition, the old eTrex H with lithium batteries, that I have posted about before, is also always carried on my person using 4 of Diamonds.

If I have my big rucksack there is a slim-line smoke flare permanently packed, and my first aid/emergency kit (another Sainsbury box packed with items, I will dig this out this morning and post separately).

[Pete McK]

We were keen to get backup mobile phones for our journeys to and from work, as we live in a quite remote area that is subject to bad weather conditions, and I researched the best types of phone, coverage and network deals.

All of the network providers have maps available of their coverage and it was important to check which was the best for our local area. T-Mobile and Orange have joint access, in other words using one network instantly gives you access to the others for coverage, important to take into consideration, and we ended up choosing Orange.

The mobile phone was a no-brainer, as e2save were offering a refurbished Samsung E1080 for 1p delivered, if you bought £10 PAYG.

These phones were for our car’s dashboard cupboards, equally they could be utilised in a waterproof box in a rucksack,and at this price we will buy another one!

[ianj37]

I'm another who carries an emergency mobile phone but mine didn't work when I needed it (fortunately not a real emergency), so here's my cautionary tale which might be of interest to those who, like me, don't read the small print.

Whilst I could use my phone to dial 999, which is perhaps all folks want in these circumstances, I couldn't do anything else. The phone had £15+ of credit, was fully charged, and had been kept for emergencies only so, as there hadn't been any emergencies, had not been used. What I hadn't realised was that if the phone hasn't been used to make a chargable call for something like 6 months then irrespective of whether it has credit on it the majority of SIM suppliers cancel the number making it unusable for anything other than 999 calls. This may have changed recently but was certainly the case in 2010.

Ian

[Callum]

Ian after reading your posting I thought it best to check, as I have this week bought a spare mobile with a Virgin PAYG, so I called them up.

The great news is that it lasts, as in makes calles, indefinitely. I don't know about other networks and suggest if anyone is using another to check first.

[ianj37]

Hi Callum, That's good news or I think it is. I have  Pays as You Go SIMs with Virgin (where the shop told me to make use I used it at least every 3 months) and with Orange so I've had a look on line. Virgin Terms and Conditions says:

Virgin Media may terminate this agreement and the Service or may suspend all or a part of the Service by immediate notice, if:

    you are in breach of any of the terms of this agreement. Virgin Media may otherwise terminate this agreement without notice if it deems, in its sole discretion, such termination necessary, provided that Virgin Media will reimburse you upon such termination of account, for any days service that you have already paid for in advance but cannot use;
    you have failed to use the Service by direct access in any 60 day period. All email and webspace (Freespace) content including your email address will be deleted and will not be retrievable. For the avoidance of doubt, accessing your account via webmail does not constitute direct access of the Service

and Orange is to the point, it says:

3.4 We will disconnect your Device if during the previous six months, you have not Registered a new Top Up or you have not made chargeable calls from your Device or received incoming calls on your Device. For the avoidance of doubt calls shall include but not be limited to voice calls, data calls and text messaging. On disconnection your mobile telephone number will be reassigned. On Reconnection you will be assigned a new mobile telephone number. Orange may at its discretion, on request and on Reconnection to the Services, recredit the amount remaining on your account at the time it was disconnected.

But perhaps what this means is that they are legally retaining the right to disconnect but in practice don't do it any more?

Onwards and upwards with technology!

Ian

[Pete McK]

Cal, I am going to check this in writing (we too have Virgin PAYG), as some call centre staff may not be so well informed

Will post result here.

[adi]

Anyone who has the opportunity to talk to S&R helo teams ask them the hardest part of there job. They will tell you, locating a casualty on the ground.

It does not matter what method they got the call for your distress, whether it is a phone call from a loved one who has rung in because you are late home, A call from you on a mobile with a grid ref and altitude or long lat transmitted via a PLB. Once they are on seen they have to locate you.

Because of this I carry a ground air marker panel. I used to carry an Army one which are heavy and bulky. So now I carry a Gearpods Tarp which are bright orange, very light and ideal size for a signal panel.

A torch or some form is a must at night. Place someone in the middle of a mountain with a torch and they become a beacon to air crew.

I also carry a Greatland Laser Flare an eye safe laser designed to shine towards aircraft.

I also carry a proper glass heliograph mirror. Reason i carry glass one is because they are optically the best. Plastic ones are ok but deteriorate over time. 

[adi]

Another item that people seem to like carrying are chem lights or light sticks. They are great bit of emergency kit but not really bright enough for signal operations. One way around this was to tie it two a couple meters of string and swing this around your head, this makes a 4 meter diameter circle of light that really does stand out stands out. I worked with a US special forces team that used this method of calling in all helos for transportation even when in radio contact. It stops confusion when you are in the thick of it, positively show the flight crew who are the friendly's it stops embarrassing mistakes. 

[boogyman]

Just a quick feedback on validity period of mobile numbers in Belgium.

First of all, we have two general ways to pay for mobile phone services:
- paying a (monthly) subscription and paying your "traffic" a posteriori, when it gets invoiced
- buying a prepaid SIM card, and the cost of your "traffic" will be taken from the (remaining) credit
I assume that all countries have (at least) these same two models.

For prepaid SIM cards, the following scheme applies (I am not 100% sure that my statement is correct for all belgian operators, but it certainly is for the major operators):
- when you buy a new prepaid SIM (with new mobile number):
  + its validity period starts when the first call is made or the first call is received with that SIM
  + most providers just do NOT say anything about how long this can take (buy a new SIM, do not use it for years, is it still valid? => unclear)
- the validity period is one month, three months, six months, or one year
- the validity period ususally depends on the credit that you bought (how much money you prepaid on the SIM)
- if you add new credit to your SIM card before the expiry date, you start a new validity period:
  + again for one month to twelve months, depending on the credit you added
- as long as your SIM is valid, but if you run out of credit:
  + you will always be able to call emergency numbers
  + some operators allow you to make calls with reverse charging (this is exceptional, never count on it)
- if you do not add new credit to your SIM card before the expiry date:
  + the SIM (read: the mobile number) will be suspended
  + the credit that was still on the SIM goes up in smoke (or rather, in the pocket of the operator)
  + you will still be able to call emergency numbers with that SIM, but no other numbers
- depending upon the operator, "unsuspending" your SIM might be anything between easy and impossible

Best regards,
Chris.

[Lyle Brotherton]

Good that you are formally following this up Cal: it seems that the networks providers give little clarity to the matter of time validity.

I also have a Virin PAYG and Tesco PAYG (think BT are the provider), neither of which have been used for well over 3 months, I will try them out today and report back.

[Lyle Brotherton]

Adi, you and Ivo should get together, you are both survival experts. Swinging the lightstick is pure genious

[Lyle Brotherton]

Adi, have opened new topic in Trips for Exmoor.

[Callum]

Seems to me that PAYG validity is an important issue, so I am going to copy & paste and write to all the network providers, I will publish my findings here.