The Canadian Ecology Centre Foundation is the author and provider (evaluator) of certified GPS programs. It will register participants who have completed a certified course in a national/international data bank (those needing this for professional, commercial, insurance or leadership reasons). Be safe, record your information!!!! Get in the "spatial habit" of leaving and sharing your "beginning" and "destination" waypoints! Print off these forms for your next adventure! |
Overview With the emergence of GPS units along with satellite and cell phones, various radios and communication systems, the ability to identify, a specific location is now a reality. The following scenarios are a few examples of what could happen and how a spatial solution would help. -
You are the first police constable, on the scene, summoned on a missing person call in a remote rural section of an unorganized township. The rest of the hunting party does not know where their friend was last seen. You are about to radio your location for assistance… -
As a paramedic, a call comes in from a communications centre identifying the UTM and latitude/longitude location on your 1: 50 000 topographical map with a NAD 27 map datum source. As you drive, your partner is determining the location … -
As an experienced camp leader you have been on a canoe trip with a group of teenagers, for five days, when one suffers a broken leg and has gone into shock. You are about to use the satellite phone to request assistance and identify your location… -
As a volunteer fire fighter you receive a message from a provincial fire crew of a “pup” fire which is spreading in a remote section of your township. The location has been transmitted on your pager and you are now headed to the location to help… -
As a lodge owner, one of your float plane pilots sends back an emergency call regarding a personal injury (heart attack) to a guest. The guide cannot move the victim and has radioed for assistance from the fly-in lake… -
As a boater on an inland waterway you have see a capsized boat in the distance. The visible shoreline is more than 1 km away and the fetch is building. Using your VHF radio you are about to contact an emergency contact… -
After a day of fishing your truck won’t start. Although you are not far off the Trans Canada Highway on a tertiary logging road, it is on an isolated section between Longlac and Hearst, Ontario. There are countless roads in the area. The satellite phone works and you are just about to describe your location… -
As a company employee you have been called to a utility corridor. There has been an overnight “blow-down” crossing the wires, but you also notice the downed trees have been uprooted near the natural gas right-of-way. You are using the satellite phone to have the location shared with others… -
You are sailing off the coast and you hit an uncharted shoal. The damage is significant and the water coming through the hull is steady, faster than your pumps can handle. You reach for the handset to radio the latitude and longitude of your position to the Coast Guard… -
You and your best friend have had a good day of snowmobiling (or ATV). It is late in the day, in early January, you decide to go a little further when your friend goes off the trail and hits a tree. He is barely conscious and is unable to move his legs. You push the power button of your GPS unit and unsnap the protective case of the satellite phone… -
The coroner at the inquest for the recent tragedy asked if there were standards for communicating spatial information and if all personnel were trained with GPS…
There are many more scenarios. With the use of communication devices, the GPS unit and a certified course or general interest program with identified expectations and standards, safety will be enhanced |
Safety Scenarios
