Garmin’s range of inReach satellite communicators have established themselves over the last decade as a popular choice among outdoor enthusiasts for staying in touch globally with two-way text messaging, location tracking and SOS emergency response services.
The latter function is vital to people travelling in remote regions, and allows users to trigger an SOS message to the Garmin Response international emergency coordination centre, where trained staff are available 24/7 to respond to SOS messages, track devices, and coordinate with emergency services or others to dispatch assistance.
Garmin have just released stats from 2024 showing where in the world inReach SOS functions were triggered, and what activities were being done at the time they were triggered. Let’s take a dive into the data!
Locations
The locations of SOS incidents reflect the 100% global Iridium satellite network, the broad use of inReach technology and the Garmin Response team’s ability to make speedy connections with emergency resources. In 2024, inReach devices were used during natural disasters, including hurricanes, flash floods and wildfires.
Responses varied from local police and ambulance services for remote car accidents to highly technical helicopter rescues on Mount Everest. Responses from New Zealand to Norway to Chile to Morocco were coordinated for bike accidents, snake bites, stranded boaters, avalanched snowmobilers, lost hikers, injured climbers and more.
Breakdown of the activities users were doing when they pushed the SOS button
Activities
The activity breakdown for SOS incidents in 2024 highlights the many ways inReach users use their device. Though hiking/backpacking and driving/motorcycling were still the biggest categories, there were increases in two very different activities: dirt biking and rafting. Other increases came from camping and mountain biking, while seasonally we see upticks in certain activities such as snowmobiling and backcountry skiing/snowboarding in the winter, boating in the summer and hunting in the autumn.
Other top activities for SOS triggers included climbing/mountaineering, off-roading, paddle sports and cycling. 2024 saw an increase in the number of SOS incidents triggered for the actual user, but nearly half were still triggered for a party member or third-party individual.
Graph shows the reasons that users reached for their inReach device
More info: www.garmin.com