Garmin Astro Helps Search and Rescue Team

We typically market the Astro GPS Dog Tracking System to hunters — whether they’re after upland game, raccoons, or big game.  But they’re also being used for much more serious purposes — finding people.  K-9 search and rescue teams across the country are realizing the utility of the Astro, whether it’s apprehending bad guys or searching for lost or missing people.  Here’s a note from William Hall, a K-9 handler based in Iowa who travels throughout North America with his dogs:

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I wanted to let you know that the 3 DC 30’s that we ordered arrived the day before we were to leave for Ontario to look for a missing 20 year old woman (missing since August 2007).  They worked flawlessly and provided us the information we needed to track where we had searched in the wilderness areas of a provincial park.  We were able to utilize the Astro to position ourselves in a way to guide the K-9 on a grid pattern even when we could not "see" where they were due to the terrain and vegetation.  I was even able to follow the activity of two additional K-9’s working over 2 miles away from my location.   The Astros from other K-9 handlers were picking up my K-9s’ location as well.  The DC 30 antennas maintained their vertical position even when the K-9 went under logs and brush.  They are far superior to the 4 DC 20’s that we used previously.  I had them mounted on top the vests you see in the attached pictures.  They caused the vests to slide to one side while working.  I believe that you should see some additional sales of Astro systems based on the performance other K-9 teams saw from these during our search.

Thanks for the story and the feedback, Bill — and hats off to search and rescue teams, both human and canine.

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