Thread: A cautionary tale

@CooeeBay sorry that might not have been the clearest. The rifle had nothing to do with me not setting off the PLB. By my comment "planning to get the rifle away & then go down to the hospital"- what I meant was after I'd made the decision to drive myself back I didn't want to go straight to the hospital, & leave my car in the hospital carpark with a rifle in the back. At that stage I made that decision I'd already dragged myself back to the car.

When I actually had the fall & was twisted over the rocks my thought process was A) Do I need to activate the PLB? or B) Am I in a state to get myself back to the car?
I was awfully close to setting off the PLB & actually had it in my hand. But at the time I wasn't thinking clearly- likely due to a mix of shock & adrenaline- so I thought that seeing as I could move a little then I was better off not activating the PLB. It wasn't until I was back in town & being put on a stretcher into the ambulance that it occurred to me that I could have had a severe spinal injury & hurt myself even further in my attempt to get myself back to the car. Or that if I'd passed out due to my injuries while trying to drive back to the hospital that I could've crashed & hurt myself further, or worse, hurt others.

Hope that answers your question. The rifle wasn't a factor in my decision not to set off the PLB, but rather that decision came later when I was driving to hospital. Again, in hindsight, I don't think attempting to get myself out of the bush or driving myself back were good ideas, & I should've done things differently & set off the PLB straight away. But in my state I wasn't thinking to clearly.

Cheers.