Recco

In 2015 the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR) produced a document titled ‘Be Searchable’, which is a recommendation aimed at people who travel, for work or pleasure, in the mountains.

- Iain Macleod

This document gives examples of devices which make you searchable such as transceivers, mobile phones, satellite emergency notification devices, torches and RECCO reflectors, as well as leaving details of your route.

Whilst the emphasis should always be on avalanche avoidance through education with the latest information and resources available, and on the basis that the fastest method of searching for a burial victim will be when three items of equipment (transceiver, probe and shovel) are carried by all members of a group, there is a place for a back-up means of being located. Certainly from the rescue team’s perspective – less time spent searching is safer for the rescuers.

If we do not all carry transceivers, or we are travelling solo, then the next level of protection could arguably be the RECCO reflector. In conjunction with the RECCO detector it gives the organised rescue team the best chance to locate the buried person in the shortest possible time, as it is highly directional, has good detection range properties and is used by one rescuer. With favourable weather conditions and helicopter access, the rescuer with the RECCO detector could be on scene, certainly within one hour and, in the case of ski patrolled areas, much less.

So what is RECCO, how does it work and what are its limitations?