Drop it into Battery World – not the bin!
Local Search and Rescue authorities are expressing frustration with local boaties who are needlessly wasting search and rescue resources by disposing of expired Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBS) in the rubbish.
Cairns Water Police Search & Rescue Coordinator, Sgt Andrew Ibell said that there had been two incidents this week whereby EPIRBs have been discarded with household rubbish and have then have been activated when being moved around by machinery at waste transfer facilities.
“In the first case, due to the uncertainty of the position of the EPIRB a search and rescue aircraft was deployed to assist. The signal was tracked to the Port Douglas waste transfer station and later disabled after Volunteer Coast Guard members and Police attended and located the beacon with handheld tracking equipment”, he said.
In the second incident, a registered EPIRB activated however the signal was poor and again the position was uncertain. Rescue authorities attempted to contact the owner of the device using the phone numbers listed on the registration. These details were incorrect and as a result Police were required to attend the address of the owner.
“Once they had located the owner it was established that the owner had thrown the EPIRB in the rubbish the day before
Both incidents resulted in a waste of valuable search and rescue resources including search aircraft, Police and Volunteer Coast Guard”, Sgt Ibell said.
The preferred method to dispose of out of date EPIRBs is to attend a Battery World store where they will be disposed of free of charge.
If this is not possible owners in most cases can easily disassemble the device and disconnect the internal batteries separating the parts prior to disposal.
In the event that these EPIRBS end up in rubbish and do get activated, locating and switching them off is a top priority as they may mask the signal of an EPIRB activation associated with a genuine distress situation.
“This ties up our search and rescue personnel and could delay their response to a genuine distress incident”, Sgt Ibell said.
Further information relating to EPIRBs and associated safety equipment can be accessed here