The group used a 406 MHz Emergency Position Indicating Response Beacon they carried with them on their walk in order to call for help.

Forty five minutes later the bushwalkers were located and the man with a cardiac condition transferred to The Canberra Hospital.

Emergency service crews in Jindabyne have been encouraging all bushwalkers to take an emergency beacon with them and say Tuesday’s rescue illustrates the success of the beacons in rescue operations.

The emergency beacon set of a satellite call which notified the Australian Maritime

Safety Authority’s (AMSA) Rescue Coordination Centre who in turn notified the

Snowy Hydro SouthCare Rescue Helicopter which was able to find the group using the GPS coordinates given from the beacon.

“Searching for people in rough and heavy bush land can be a challenge, the emergency beacons make it much faster to locate people in distress and if a member of your party has injuries, you can see the benefits of being able to locate you immediately and transport you for further medical treatment you may require” says CEO Steve Gregory.

“AMSA advises that old analogue beacons can no longer be used as distress alerting devices and as of 1 February 2010 it will be illegal to operate a 121.5 MHz beacon.

“They should be removed from the environment immediately to ensure they do not block out true distress alerts and take valuable resources away from real life and death situations.” Mr Gregory said.