Everyone has heard the story of the boy who cried wolf. In Search and Rescue, we have a very similar situation involving ELTs (Emergency Locator Transmitters).

The ELT is a wonderful device designed to provide a timely response to a critical, potentially life-threatening, situation. However, most ELT activations are false alarms, whereas most actual emergencies result in no activation of the ELT. As backward as this may seem, it is true. Most of the ELTs the Division of Aeronautics searches for are false alarms; at least one incident per week throughout Idaho.

According to the National Search and Rescue School in York Town, Virginia,