Ala-Archa may introduce a GPS tracking system for tourists.
After the tragedy with 14-year-old Amir Konakunov, the management of the Ala-Archa National Park is considering new safety measures for visitors.
In particular, tourists may start receiving GPS trackers to help determine their location in the event of an emergency.
According to the director of the park, Kubanichbek Zhakshevkov, for this purpose they propose to install a special registration point at the entrance. The initiative is currently under discussion with the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
On the one hand, something is better than nothing. Amir Konakunov called the emergency department, said he was lost, his geographic location was determined and it still took rescuers more than a day to reach him.
The tracker won't automatically save him, but it might give him a point that can be moved faster. In the mountains, where communication is lost and night falls within an hour, every minute counts. On the other hand, the tracker is not salvation. This is a tool. If a GPS sign is issued at the entrance, but the rescuers cannot leave in time, if the helicopter is not lifted into the air, if information about the missing person is transmitted to the rescue team three hours later because there is no contact, then the tracker will remain just a beautiful piece of iron on a wire.
Amir's problem was not that he was technically impossible to find. The problem is that the system worked slowly.
And trackers don't solve that problem, they just add data that someone has to process in time.
and one more thing. "Ala-Archa" is not just a tourist site. This is a place where locals, school children, runners, people without equipment and training go.
If followers become mandatory or paid, some people will simply unsubscribe or bypass the problem point.
And if it's free, then who will pay for the equipment, billing, accounting, reimbursement? The idea is good, but we need to quickly decide on the details.