FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - As a tour of marine units begin their National Safe Boating Week "Wear It Florida" tour down the Intracoastal Waterway, a 406 MHz Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) will be onboard the lead boat to remind boaters of the importance of carrying satellite detectible emergency beacons aboard their boats.
ACR Electronics, Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, provided the latest generation PLB, an AquaLink? View for the six day safety awareness tour, created as a joint effort between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), United States Coast Guard (USCG) and all local partners (Coast Guard Auxiliary, US Power Squadron, Maritime enforcement agencies and vendors such as ACR Electronics that specialize in safety product in and around the marine environment).
The Life Jackets for Life Tour will begin Sunday, May 23 with a 2 p.m. kick-off at Sister's Creek?Jim King Park & Boat Ramp in Jacksonville and will conclude Friday, May 28 at 10 a.m. with a media event at Watson Island in Miami.
About Satellite Detectible Emergency Beacons
406 MHz EPIRBs (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons) and PLBs transmit signals on internationally recognized distress frequencies. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) monitors the 406 MHz signal and the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System (COSPAS-SARSAT) detects and locates distress signals and forwards the information directly to the Coast Guard. GPS coordinates greatly assist search and rescue crews, and in the event GPS isn't acquired, position can be calculated through Doppler Shift as a reliable backup.
NOAA has reported that in 2009, COSPAS-SARSAT assisted in the rescue of 154 people in 63 incidents at sea. Worldwide, the COSPAS-SARSAT system is credited with rescuing more than 27,000 people since the program's inception in 1982. Of that number, more than 6,000 persons were rescued in the U.S.
An EPIRB/PLB is a satellite-signalling device of last resort, for use when all other means of self-rescue have been exhausted and where the situation is deemed to be grave and imminent, and the loss of life, limb, eyesight or valuable property will occur without assistance. All beacons must be registered online at www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov following purchase.
