North Shore Rescue (NSR) said it was called to assist Nanaimo SAR on Friday morning, after a man reportedly went off his e-bike the previous day and had not returned.
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That's when they deployed the recently-acquired LifeSeeker unit, which had been installed on one of their helicopters. It functions like a portable cell tower and helps locate cellphones in the backcountry, where there would otherwise be no signal.
Allan McMordie, one of NSR's search managers, said the device works if rescuers know the phone's IMEI serial number and if it's currently on.
"We're the first one, that I believe, that has ever used it in a volunteer search-and-rescue capacity, and I don't know if anybody else in Canada has this device," McMordie told CBC News.
The man was subsequently located and rescued safely, the search manager said.
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The search manager estimated that the LifeSeeker technology cost around $250,000, and acknowledged it took a while to install on the team's helicopter and learn how to operate it.
I'm a little surprised this is its own news piece? The company itself says in the piece that their specific technology has been used in 200+ rescue operations previously. Maybe it's due to the...
I'm a little surprised this is its own news piece? The company itself says in the piece that their specific technology has been used in 200+ rescue operations previously.
Maybe it's due to the strength of the tracking system or something? I'm struggling to see why this is a big deal.
Smith Myers is one of several manufacturers that've been putting these cell phone "towers" on rescue helicopters since the 1980s. It's standard gear on stuff like the AW 101, for example.
CBC is the Canadian public news broadcaster, and this particular article is from British Columbia. And IMO it's newsworthy because, while the system may have been used 200+ times in the US or...
CBC is the Canadian public news broadcaster, and this particular article is from British Columbia. And IMO it's newsworthy because, while the system may have been used 200+ times in the US or elsewhere in the world, it's apparently the first time it's ever been used here. They even specifically mention that in the lede:
North Shore Rescue believes it's the 1st in B.C., and perhaps Canada, to use the Lifeseeker unit
From the article:
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I'm a little surprised this is its own news piece? The company itself says in the piece that their specific technology has been used in 200+ rescue operations previously.
Maybe it's due to the strength of the tracking system or something? I'm struggling to see why this is a big deal.
Smith Myers is one of several manufacturers that've been putting these cell phone "towers" on rescue helicopters since the 1980s. It's standard gear on stuff like the AW 101, for example.
CBC is the Canadian public news broadcaster, and this particular article is from British Columbia. And IMO it's newsworthy because, while the system may have been used 200+ times in the US or elsewhere in the world, it's apparently the first time it's ever been used here. They even specifically mention that in the lede:
I guess it's local news? I hadn't read about this sort of thing before.