Hmmm...Some food for thought.
The National Asscociation for Search and Rescue has this advice...
Be smart about using a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), other Satellite Emergency Notification Device (e.g. SPOT) or cell phone
1.If you answer NO! to "Would I go there without my PLB, SPOT or cell phone?", then don't go.
2.Would you normally do something that might fracture your pelvis, freeze your hands and feet, kill you by heat stroke, suffocate you under snow, drown you or get you lost by days? If your answer is NO!-then don't do it relying on your signaling device.
3. Don't think "It won't happen to me-that happens to someone else." Backcountry and wilderness travelers must know how to: Prepare for, recognize and prevent an emergency.
4. Always use these devices for the unforeseen - not as last resort tool to handle what should be foreseen. It is dangerous and irresponsible to think they "allow" going somewhere or doing shoething your are not prepared or experienced to do.
5. Carrying an electronic signaling device does not make you safe. No distress beacon or cell phone offers you warmth, shelter or first aid. They only make it easier to summon emergency help - after you are injured, lost or worst. And once rescuers have been notified, weather and terrain conditions may prevent or delay from reaching or finding you.
6. When you activate any emergency signaling device, a full-scale emergency response will begin using local, state and/or national emergency agencies. It is appropriate that a true emergency exists.
7. PLB and SPOT are useful devices that save lives. You should think a head about when to use one responsibly.
