Why Become Certified in GPS, Map and Compass:

With the emergence of GPS units along with 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 using a topo map and GPS unit will help.

·         You are hunting near Stephenville and the fog comes in. Having no map, compass or GPS you try to get out of the wind and rain and wait for help. You spend a 12 hours huddled under a tree until the local search and rescue unit finally finds you. If only you had taken a course in GPS, topo maps and compass use….

·         You have applied for a summer job at an adventure tourism operation specializing in sea kayaking and hiking. You have good kayak and hiking skills but no map, compass and GPS background. The job goes to your friend who has GPS certification and sea kayak/hiking skills….

·         You are on an ATV 15 kilometers from your Corner Brook when it breaks down. You have about 1 hour until it gets dark. Fortunately you have your GPS, topo map, compass and cell phone so you contact your friends.  Thankfully they also have the topo map so they know right where you are and can find you before it gets dark…

·         As a paramedic, a call comes in from a communications centre identifying a UTM location on your 1: 50 000 topographical map for a hunter that has been accidently shot.  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 get out your cell phone to request assistance and identify your location on your topo map…

·         As a volunteer fire fighter from a community in the Bay of Islands you receive a message from a provincial fire crew of a fire which is spreading in a remote area near your community.  The location has been transmitted on your pager and you are now headed to the location to help…

·         As a remote lodge owner in Western Newfoundland, 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 located at…

·         As a boater on Sandy Lake you have see a capsized boat in the distance. The visible shoreline is more than 1 km away and the waves are building. Getting out your map, GPS, and your VHF radio you are about to contact the RCMP to send in the location of the boat.

·         After a day of fishing your truck won’t start. Although you are not far off the highway 431 on a logging road, it is on an isolated section between between Deer Lake and Corner Brook.  There are countless roads in the area. You get out your GPS and your cell phone works to tell your buddy where you are….

·         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. 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 near Lady Slipper Road near Corner Brook.  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 your cell phone…

·         The coroner at the inquest for the recent sea kayak tragedy asked if there were standards for communicating spatial information and if all personnel were trained with GPS…

·         You are the first police constable, on the scene, summoned on a missing person call in a remote rural area near your community.  The rest of the hunting party does not know where their friend was last seen. You are about to radio your location for assistance…

There are many more scenarios. With the use of communication devices, the GPS unit, topo map, compass and a certified course your safety will be enhanced.