Sedna takes the search out of search and rescue

JOHN THOMPSON

In January 2004 a heavy blizzard descended over Coral Harbour as a man walked home from a friend’s house. He got lost, and when community members began to search for him, they found his footprints leading out of town.

By the time searchers found him, he had frozen to death.

During the search, Leonard Netser shuttled fellow searchers to the last spot where footprints were seen.

It struck him then that satellite technology could steer searchers to a missing person’s last known location.

“In today’s world, this should be done automatically.”

Enter the Sedna Satellite Tracker, a gadget that Netser has tested for the last year and a half through his company, Inuit Nunaani Wireless Inc.

Its bright orange, heavy-duty plastic shell is a satellite phone and GPS tracker rolled into one, and it can tell anyone with an Internet connection and computer the path you’ve followed on the land, showing exactly where you are on a map.

“Your wife or girlfriend can just log on, look at the website and see where you are,” Netser said.

With the push of a button, it’s also capable of transmitting an alert message, which will dial a pre-determined phone number and deliver an emergency message. When it receives a message, an indicator light turns on.

Netser says the first mistake made by someone whose snowmachine breaks down is to panic, leave their equipment and wander off looking for help, which makes it harder for searchers to find them.

“When people know that help’s on the way, they’ll have an easier time settling back and setting up a camp.”

Besides doing the work of a satellite phone and GPS tracker automatically, Netser says it’s also probably cheaper: the unit itself costs $1,400. An annual subscription costs $240, with up to 2,000 online position reports.

Netser plans to market the Sedna tracker to anyone who ventures out on to the land, particularly young hunters. He also hopes search and rescue outfits will buy the unit, to help chart search paths instead of covering the same ground several times, and to track searchers.

“People on search and rescue operations often need help themselves,” he said.

About a dozen units have been sold, including five units to the Nunavut Emergency Management, and four units to the Department of Sustainable Development. Netser also says search and rescue outfits are using the units in Manitoba and B.C., with good results. “They’re quite pleased with it.”

He says the Sedna tracker could also be used in the aircraft of mine exploration companies to track their locations.

Netser assembles the units himself in his small shop, making it a made-in-Nunavut invention.

Netser also appears to hold the first patents filed from Nunavut — he searched through the patent office directory and was unable to find any others.

He says he’s spent the past year testing the current configuration of the unit, knowing that a malfunction could put lives at risk. “We were very careful about not putting the product out until it was well tested,” he said.

He now feels comfortable selling another 50 units or so, and hopes the gadget will one day become commonplace in the territory.
“I hope Nunavut will really support this. I think it’s going to be an important tool to search and rescue.”