SPOT Owners Beware: 911 alerted, with a all day no show!!!

Rhinoeater here,

Ride Barstow 2 Vegas Nov. 25 2010

To all you spot owners out there I was injureded on Saturday in the 1st hard section, went over the bars and just layed there, comptiplating if I should hit the 911 or not, I didnt and after sweep had passed me and i had layed there for 1/2 an hour, I mustered all the energy I had and Desided to go the direction I thought was The staightest way to hyway 15, considering my GPS granaded, along with my e-start and my odometer........ I shortly collapsed and decided to hit 911 and lost conciness

Know, not knowing my injurys at the time: They were a class 3 Bleeding from my spline, Class 3 rupture to the liver, and 2 broken ribs.

After 911 was pressed my wife was called by the barstow sheriiff and gives him the info that she knows. (hes in a ride from barstow 2 Vegas) And they tell her we no his cordinates, and are dispatching a helicopter from San Bernardino but no helicopter sent. Or was ever seen!!! OK!!! I get a call from barstow sheriff on my cell phone that gets no reception 50 miles from the closest town, so that was useless 2nd call to me cell phone 4 huors later from Baker Sheriffs dept they also had my exact position and from what I found out later have a helicopter right in Purumph, ready for these situations...I have theses officers names and pnohe#s if you PM me I will be more than willing tyo give you this info!!!

My my real complaint comes in with District 37 telling the Sherriffs we have this under control???? or with the ride promoters willing to tell the sheriffs anything they want to here, well get him and take care of it just for the sake of there land permits???

I will find out and get to the bottom of this!!!

After lying out there for 3 hours a BLM Officer comes up and does not know anything about my 911 call (Now remember my injurys) and he cant transport me WTF!!!!

So he leaves and says hes going to get a hold of the event orginizares with get this (no not his 2 way radio, but his cell phone and he has no GPS) Comes back and says he could not get a hold of anyone on the paperwork he had!!! I Pleaded so hard, to know avail for just a ride but he said he Couln't.. Have his Name and info if needed Just PM me.

But I can lead you to the I15 So there we go zig zaging becouse he has no GPS and does not know were to cross the tracks 20miles later im at I15 somewhere about 5 miles s. of Razer and again pleaded for A ride to no avail..

So I rode 21 miles down the interstate to baker to, lets guess a waiting ambulance NNNOOO!!! , helicopter NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! M wife with my truckwilling to drive my lump of S..H al the way to the hospital in Las Vegas in the front seat of course!!!

I do appreciate the all support from Dan the computor guy and the support from Wanda allthought I dont know what roll she played!!!

One remark I deffenitly didn't appreciate was the one from MARC (He infasized with a C) Is that spot is getting alot of hits on this Holiday...
To that I say BULLSHIT !!!!!! We pay any where from $100 to $150 for a device and then any where from $99 -$212.95 and thats extra to pay for my heliride not so you guys can take care of it and make sure you secure your permits for this!!!!!

You have not heard the end of this, and may lead to many partys getting involved, But I tell you one thing wheather I ever ride a dist 37 event again......You will have to answer to more than the local sheriffs telling them you got it all under control, becouse you shur as hell don't

By the way never ever heard from, or a call to see how I was doing

RIDERS BEWARE!!!!

Rhinoeater:ruskie

Sorry to hear of your misadventure.

I have a Spot, and have always wondered about what would 'really' happen if 911 gets pushed. My riding buddy and I thought it would be a good investment, so we wouldn't have to desert the other(s) to get help in the middle of nowhere.

From what I understand of your situation, though, it sounds like Spot did it's job- notified the Cops, and presumably, whoever you have programmed it to alert as well. It seems the problems came from the emergency services, not Spot.

Here in Canuckistan, those sort of things usually run much smoother, because we, umm,
pay for them to, mostly, work.

I'd suggest programming the Spot message to alert the nearest Fire Dept. / S&R to the situation, as most would respond to medical calls pretty quickly.

It's been my experience that FF's take care of most any situations
way better.

ill keep this in mind, sorry to hear your fucked up story.

Yeah, I sympathize with the situation and I'd sure be PO'd at everyone involved.

BUT.

I've had friends wait 4-5 hours for medical on I-5 in snow... It sounds to me like spot worked pretty well, am I missing something?

I'd be pissed too. Thanks for the warning on this. Will check my 911 message and see if I can improve on it. Sounds like Spot did it's job anyway.

Sorry to here of your nightmare hope you recover quickly from your
injurys.

spot is just one piece of the safety net we hope will work if needed
there's the blm, park rangers, leo and our riding friends.

most of the time the net works.

I have found I'm to competive and will ride to fast in a B to V type of
rides. I stick to small groups and solo riding.
I'm sure once your back on the bike you'll find your groove
we all need to watch over each either

I too would be extremely pissed off at this. If SPOT's responsibility stops at a phone call to the sherif's dept with no follow-up whatsoever to make sure help has been dispatched and the dude bleeding out on the trail is actually getting some aid, I may as well toss my device.

sorry billy for your experience. i don't rely on spot completely; everything has it's own faults and weaknesses. all system has flaws.

i will be pissed if i were on your shoes. anyway glad to hear you're still alive...

our best bet is having a reliable and responsible riding buddy or buddies.

Rhinoeater, sorry to hear about your misfortune. At some point you need to take responsibility for your own actions. Spot didn't make you go over the bars you did. If I remember correctly you were the one with the BMW and the broken swing arm. For that I'm sorry. I suppose you really had no control over the situation, But still that is not SPOT's fault. Where you riding alone? If not where were your pals? Did you think you were the only one in the hundreds of riders that the D37 was dealing with? probably not. So, maybe you should chalk it up to an unfortunate situation. Bottom line is that you are safe and sound now. I happy for that. Attitude like this is why we as moto riders are getting our riding ares taken away. Sue happy California's..

that was Snooker not Rhinoeater

Billy. I am so glad that your home. I understand why your pissed with your spot. But I have also read stories of how well spot works. Your story is going to make me add even more survival supplies to my gear. I already carry a signal mirror, whistle, compass, space blanket, food, and 50 ft of 550 cord. Now because of how close the chase truck missed you. Ill be looking for a few small signal flairs to add to my gear. I am going to learn from your mishap. thanks for sharing your story with us. Feel better brother. Ben

I was riding sweep at this event, though not on your section. That said, if you were lying in a ditch I may have missed you as well.
It sounds as if several things went wrong, and that happens more often than most of us care to admit.
I'm very happy to hear you are home.
I'm disappointed to hear your immediate riding group separated from you. There is no better care in the desert than your riding buddies. Riding sweep is an overwhelming task and involves focusing on hundreds of riders. Being a riding buddy involves only a few.
I'm not making any excuses if there was oversight on any one person's behalf.
I am saying that even though accidentally, you had a hand in this share of events as well.
SPOT worked as advertised. Calls were made. The rest is history.
In my experience, a chopper is no more than an ambulance. They will not go out and chase a moving target. It sounds as if that is what you became when you started moving after the 911 call.

Your bike shouldn't have broke.
You should have ridden slower.
Your buddies never should have left you.
The BLM employee should have made an exception.
Sweep should have???

All that matters to me in the end is that you are here and will ride again.
I fully understand your position, but have seen "the perfect storm" before.
No one thing created your situation.
Hug your loved ones and move on.

you are lucky to be alive.. my drag boat racing cousin died from a ruptured spleen.. after a 5 mph impact in a snow storm impacting the steering wheel.. count your blessings.. maybe god wanted you to lay there for those 2 hours.. ... motorcycle riding is dangerous... dont blame D37...dont sue... just thank god you are alive and open a new chapter...

x2. Oh, and screw the worthless POS BLM dude. Otherwise, the rest was just part of the chaos that happens naturally in our lives. Count your blessings and move on. And whatever you do, please don't sue. We have enough riding areas closed and I can see events like this eventually swallowed-up by the liability gods...

Sorry to hear about your problems this weekend. I had good luck with my spot.. long story short I was reported missing. the sheriff tracked me using my spot and found out I was ok.

more info here
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=530333&page=63 post 939

sounds to me like your issue is with d37 not with spot..

First of all, let me say I'm sorry to hear how your ride took a dump. I truly am. This ride is an epic, historic and shining gem of an event. It's an example of what can be achieved when you work woth the BLM, Forest service and private land owners. Anyone bashing the BLM is misguided and I'd venture to say has never got into the inner workings of one of the most overtaxed agencies in Government.

Now that being said, where are your rider instructions Rhino? Tell me, honestly, when exactly did you read them? Next, who were your riding buddies? Afte you're done kicking their asses, send em to me and I'll continue the beatings. Now if you tell me you were riding alone, then all of this is pointless and we should be kicking your ass. In your riding instructions you were told, if you do not have a riding buddy, we'll help find someone for you to ride with. We even had a sign and bull pen for single riders showing up and needing a riding buddy.

You were told in the rider instructions and over and over with the bullhorn rider meetings during sign ups: If you're hurt on the course call 911. 911!
Did you call 911 with your cell phone? I want the names of all parties involved. I will get to the bottom of this. If the ball was dropped on our end, I sincerely apologize. My Committee has a post event meeting with the BLM next Tuesday. Please forward all names of BLM and other law enforcement personnell you had contact with, as well as D-37 folks.

We put this ride on to benefit D-37 land use issues, Toys for Tots, Riders Helping Riders, CORVA, Stewards of the Sequoias and many more. It's supposed to be fun, we provide you with enough information to make it fun and safe for the riders.

I'll post the result of my findings here so as to present a balanced view of the events. In the heat of the moment and I'd venture to say Rhino was a bit shocky at best, things may have seemed to be one thing when they were actually another. It's a no win situation though due to the fact that Rhino had a bad experience, that's the last thing that's supposed to happen. We'll learn from this and move forward, hopefully nothing like this will happen in the future. It takes cooperation and responsibility on behalf of the riders as well as D-37 Dualsport.


Kieth Huff
AMA D-37 Dualsport President
LA-B-to-V event Coordinator
(562)244-0244

thank you for relaying your personal experience. i have been debating between getting a SPOT or getting the McMurdo FastFind. i am definitely getting the FastFind now. all SPOT does is call 911 on your behalf and while it is cheaper upfront, it has recurring fees. the FastFind has no recurring fees and is linked to the 406 MHz global emergency band along with a homing beacon and the GPS. what's the point of SPOT if when you actually need it, it doesn't work. it sure looks cute on its RAM mount on the handlebars, but when the shit goes down, i am going to want the device that really works.

and dude, don't listen to the bullshit in this thread: if you want to sue, go ahead and sue. litigation is the only language our society understands anymore. and if your lawsuit draws light to this EMS flaw and saves another rider's life, then it is worth it.

we riders know the risk, dont ruin a good ride by another petty lawsuit just to get some money. i know it sucks that you crashed and got hurt, but crashing comes along with riding. who are you going to sue next time you crash in the desert on one of your own rides?

Petty lawsuit? How much closer to death without getting any help do you need to get in order for it not to be petty?

I'm not sure what the legislated requirements for the authorities to investigate each and every 911 call to resolution, but it appears on the surface it is pretty stringent. My understanding is, that even 911 hangups are investigated.

Pushing the 911 button on a SPoT is equivalent to any other 911 call. The GEOS dispatch center then makes the 911 call for you. A 911 call by proxy is no different than any other 911 call. If any official (race, LEO, rescue) interceded in the response based upon your SPoT activation without specific knowledge of your condition and location, they should be held accountable. However, I would temper that with the indication that you did not follow the rules set by the ride organizers.



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