RECCO, a manufacturer of rescue technology that makes backcountry travelers more searchable, has launched its Search & Rescue Helicopter Detector system in Spain. Handheld detectors frequently are used by SAR teams for avalanche rescue, however, this will be the country’s first helicopter team to be equipped with the RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector system.
”Until now we’ve had the handheld RECCO detector that allowed us to search on foot. With the addition of the RECCO SAR helicopter detector, which is placed under the helicopter, we’ve made an important step forward, allowing search missions to be carried out faster in a wider area. This tool can be used during summer and winter, to look for missing people in the outdoors and buried avalanche victims,” said Juanmi Riu, responsible for the mountain rescue group in Val d’Aran.
The RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector can search large areas, covering 1 km2 within six minutes. Beyond shortening search times, the helicopter-based detector can reduce the time and the exposure to risk for rescue workers during search missions. Having this resource will also help expand searchability to four seasons, as the helicopter-based unit is extremely helpful in summer rescue scenarios.
“Adding Spain to the list of RECCO SAR equipped countries is a real milestone for us. The country is known for its wide range of outdoor activities year-round, such as hiking, biking, rock climbing and skiing. These are all activities where our goal is to help the rescue community in case of an accident, by making more people searchable,” said Fredrik Steinwall, CEO at RECCO.
Currently, there are 31 RECCO SAR Helicopter Detectors globally, with 11 in North America and 20 units deployed across Europe. In addition to Spain, the latest deployments include Colorado Highland Helicopters (US), Helico Secours (Canada) and HeliAir (Sweden).
