Satellite emergency notification device

A Satellite Emergency Notification Device or SEND is a portable emergency notification and locating device which uses commercial satellite systems rather than the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system. An example of this device is SPOT.

The devices use an internal GPS chip to gather location information. When the SEND is triggered, this information is sent via commercial satellite to a commercial monitoring agency whose role is to pass the information to an appropriate responding agency. The responding agency contacted depends, in part, on the location. Examples of responding agencies would be military Search and Rescue, Coast Guard, local police, voluntary Search and Rescue.

Typical users/purchasers of these devices are participants in activities such as hiking, mountain biking, climbing, boating and flying. They are also useful for those who work in remote areas (loggers, foresters, geologists, fisheries and wildlife staff).

Additional features are increasingly being offered: sending preprogrammed messages, breadcrumb tracking via Google Earth. Some newer devices offer two-way communication via satellite, for example DeLorme's inReach Communicator and the Yellowbrick 3 Messenger/Tracker.