A British student researcher while on a project in Kamchatka in Russia broke her leg after falling off a horse. She had a 406 megahertz beacon locator, the distress signal of which reached Scotland — 3,700 miles away! She was rescued and is currently recovering.
Kamchatka is a scarcely populated remote part of eastern Russia, one of the world’s last great wildernesses that is also home to 300 volcanoes.
I think we tend to take safety for granted; you never think you are going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere alone and disconnected. The girl in this case was with 8 others, and she had an advance beacon thing. What happened to the Russian rescue services?
I’m not very knowledgeable about the types of personal beacons, the way the work, and the distance they cover, but if they can send SOS signals to centers cross-continent, whoa, hats off to technology. Apparently, this is not normal though.
Here’s a good piece with basic information on personal beacons. They are available for around £200-300, probably worth the investment if you are going to be away from civilization for a while.