A tramper has been rescued after falling into a steep, narrow canyon in the Upper Hutt bush.

Wellington Police’s search and rescue squad was called into action on Sunday after a personal locator beacon (PLB) activation in the Little Akatarawa River area.

It would have taken hours for members of the person’s tramping group to reach an area with cellphone reception, police said.

The Rescue Coordination Centre requested assistance after the beacon was activated by a tramping group deep in the bush.

Upon arrival, police rescue teams discovered a patient had fallen from height into a steep and narrow canyon, suffering moderate injuries.

Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR), Canyon Search and Rescue, and the Wellington Free Ambulance Rescue Response team helped move the patient to a suitable site to be airlifted out by helicopter.

 
Rescuers were able to move the patient to a spot where the helicopter could extract them.

Wellington District Search and Rescue duty officer Constable Jago Dellow said this was a significant team effort in difficult terrain.

“The combined expertise of our volunteers and emergency services ensured the patient received urgent medical care,” Dellow said.

The tramping group was well prepared and carrying multiple PLBs.

“If they hadn’t had a beacon, it could have taken hours to reach an area with cellphone coverage,” he said.

“This incident highlights the importance of carrying multiple forms of communication and letting someone know your plans before heading into the outdoors.”

As summer approaches, police remind outdoor enthusiasts to be prepared

• Before heading into the outdoors, make sure you’re properly equipped. That means packing enough warm clothing, food and shelter to handle unexpected conditions – and carrying at least two reliable forms of communication. One of those should ideally be a PLB, which can alert emergency services even when you’re far from cell coverage.
• Plan your trip carefully and always let someone know where you’re going and when you expect to return. These simple steps can make all the difference in an emergency.

The rescue chopper pulled the patient from the bush in Upper Hutt.

Rescue Coordination Centre reminds users to register beacons

PLBs are important tools for people heading into the wilderness but they should be registered to help rescuers do their job properly.

There are 150,000 registered beacons in New Zealand.

“We don’t know just how many beacons are out there all told,” said search and rescue officer Alex Taylor.

Registering them is “incredibly easy to do” and can be done online on the beacons.org.nz website.

Beacons, which cost between $400 and $600 and last for five to 10 years, should not be put in the rubbish.

According to beacons.org.nz, owners should first ensure their beacon is deregistered on the website and then send it to the RCCNZ office in Lower Hutt so the battery can be safely disabled and disposed of. More information can be found on the website.

RCCNZ is responsible for responding to crashed or missing aircraft incidents, offshore maritime incidents, and PLB alerts across an area stretching from the South Pole to nearly the equator. The range stretches halfway to Australia and halfway to Chile and includes some of the Pacific islands and the Antarctic area.

When a beacon alert comes in, the first thing the team will do is check to see if it’s registered and then try to contact the owner or their emergency contacts. If that doesn’t work, they check to see if the location it is pinging at is associated with a known landfill or dump.

Sometimes, depending on the terrain or the orientation of the beacon, the alert can be precise, while other times it may have a margin of error of up to a kilometre. If the antenna is extended, this affects how precise the location is.

The beacon allowed rescuers to find the patient hours earlier than they otherwise would have.

If the team cannot verify the alert is accidental, they will send out “assets”, often a rescue helicopter, to search the area it is pinging. The choppers have better equipment for narrowing down alert signals.

The RCCNZ has asked that, heading through spring, PLB owners make sure their devices are registered or, if they are disposing of them, that they deregister them and send them to be properly decommissioned.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.