3 April 2013 Time: 4pm

Beacon proves its worth twice-over for hunters (updates numbers)

A personal locator beacon has proved a saviour twice in six days by a hunting party in the George Sound area of Fiordland, south of Milford Sound.

Last Thursday (28 March), the five-person party activated the beacon after one member fell and suffered a suspected broken leg.

The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) received the activation at around 4.15pm and the hunter was picked up by the Southern Lakes rescue helicopter and taken to the Te Anau Medical Centre.

The remaining members of the party continued with their trip, but were camping in two separate groups when the beacon was activated for the second time around 5am this morning. The Southern Lakes Rescue Helicopter again flew to the area and found two of the men, aged 48 and 41, hypothermic after their campsite was flooded overnight by a metre of water. The men, one of whom is believed to be the brother of the hunter rescued last week, were taken to Te Anau for treatment. The remaining members of the party arranged a helicopter pick-up for later today.

RCCNZ Search and Rescue Mission Controller Geoff Lunt said the second activation again proved the worth of the personal locator beacons.

“For the second time on a single trip, this beacon has led to a positive outcome for what could have been a very serious situation,” he said. “There is no question that beacons save time in search and rescue operations and that can mean saving lives.”

In a separate incident, two hunters in the Haast Pass area activated their beacons at around 6pm last night after one man become separated and fired a series of shots to raise the alarm.

The Aspiring Rescue Helicopter located one of the men at the Franklin Hut but was unable to reach the second man due to bad weather. He was located bluffed, and cold and wet, but otherwise uninjured, this morning and returned to the hut.

Beacons should be registered, without charge, at the website: www. beacons.org

This allows emergency contact details to be provided which can assist in search operations.

ENDS

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