Thread: Hunter rescued by helicopter after accidentally stabbing himself

Strictly regarding the use of PLBs and those that choose to carry and have to use them.

From my own painful and personal experience I can advise that.

PLBs should be carried on your body when in the serious stuff.
I fell / slid / rolled over 100 vertical m and the day pack I had the PLB in was destroyed.
My hunting companion had to climb down to me via a different route. Urgently stop my bleeding and then climb back up the debris field to find the PLB.
If the PLB was on a belt or in a bum bag it might have also been lost or damaged, as during the fall All exterior parts of my body were damaged. Especially my buttocks, knees, shoulders, elbows and the backs of my hands.
In my opinion the best place for the PLB is around your neck or in a very secure shirt top pocket.

In a party of 2 hunters they should have one PLB each.
I placed my companion at considerable personal risk in getting to me and also climbing up to retrieve the PLB that had been in my pack.
For groups of 3 or more, 2 PLBs and make sure when you split up that each group has a PLB.

I was an early adopter of PLBs many many years ago and always considered that I would be most likely to use in the situation that I came upon a stranger somewhere in trouble and that it would wreck my own trip having to walk out and raise the alarm.

In my own emergency I'm a little unsure what happened. But clearly I got something horribly wrong despite having spent many years and very many hunts in this type of country.
I had multiple serious injuries. None of them alone were life threatening !
BUT if I had had to spend the night where I was it is fairly likely that the outcome would have been very different.
We were around 3 hours from our camp. So maybe a 5 hour round trip for my mate to get to the camp, make a mountain radio call and get back to me with warmer gear and supplies to get me through that night.
Shock was starting to get the better of me when the first paramedic got to me around 4 hours after the PLB activation.

Also please discuss with those on your PLB contact list persons how you would like things to be handled.
My wife was advised about the PLB activation very promptly. But NZ SAR Wellington did not communicate well after that point and with it being 4 hours before they got a status report from the rescue team it was a long harrowing wait.
Also they need to realize that the PLB activation could be for anyone at all and not the PLB owner.
They should ask for a name and number they can use as a single point of contact at SAR. So that they can get updates.

Once the police took over at triage in Franz Josef communications and updates were very efficient.
But to be fair prior to that there was not a lot of info.

ACC were great.
I guess when the issue is clear and apparent that there are no disputes about age and pre existing conditions.
But it does all take a long time to deal with specialists and rehab.
I spent 2 years on ACC working to get everything as good as it will ever be.
Lots of fishing and hunting as therapy.

GME replaced my activated PLB for free and also gave me a set of their top of the line 2 way radios.
I now have 2 PLBs as one of the tiny RescueMe ones has now been given to me also.
This is great when taking friends from Europe hunting with me.
I have had lots of help and support from family, friends and forum members.

I'm intending upgrading to the Garmin InReach Explorer plus some time soon. Looking forward to hearing from some of you guys how you find the mapping software on them ?

Whether you carry one or not is entirely your choice.
But I hope my experiences are of some assistance to those that do.