International Cospas-Sarsat Programme

International Satellite System For Search and Rescue
Cospas-Sarsat Distress Alerts
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Since its inception in 1982 the Cospas-Sarsat System has provided distress alert information which has assisted in the rescue of 26,779 persons in 7,268 distress situations.

In 2008 only, the System provided information which was used to rescue 1,981 persons in 502 distress situations. The locations of these events are depicted on the map below.

 

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ALL REPORTED SAR EVENTS
FOR WHICH COSPAS-SARSAT DATA WAS USED (2008)

 

The details for specific SAR events assisted by Cospas-Sarsat, as reported by national Administrations to the Cospas-Sarsat Secretariat, are provided in Annex C to document C/S R.007 "Cospas-Sarsat Report on System Status and Operations". Annex C provides both overall statistical information as well as a short description of each SAR event for which Cospas-Sarsat data was instrumental. Each alert is categorized as either an:

 

Only Alert- Cospas-Sarsat was the only source of information provided to SAR authorities;
First Alert - Cospas-Sarsat was the first source of information provided to SAR authorities;
Supporting Data - Information provided by the Cospas-Sarsat System which was not the first or only alert, but was used in conjunction with information from other sources in the SAR operation.

Distress Events for which Cospas-Sarsat data was provided to SAR services but not used because the necessary information had previously been provided by another source or the distress situation had already been resolved were not included in the Cospas-Sarsat summary statistics provided at Annex C to document C/S R.007.

Last Updated on Thursday, 19 November 2009 16:09  

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