A father and son who got lost in a cave in Co Clare for 28 hours have inspired the creation of an app that alerts relatives if they do not return on time.
Patrick Troy and his son, Finn, were rescued in August 2015 after losing their way in a caving network at Pollnagollum in The Burren.
Stephen O’Connor, 30, from Athy, Co Kildare, heard the story after losing his own brother Andy on a hike on Knocknarea, Co Sligo, only to later find him in a pub.
“It really made me panic about what could happen on even very short and safe trips,” Mr O’Connor said.
Mr Troy, an experienced caver, had described breaking the “cardinal rules” by not telling anyone where he and Finn were going. Mr O’Connor said that it made him think there should be an automatic way of notifying people if you get into difficulty.
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This year the O’Connor brothers released R2B, an acronym of “return to base”. The app enables people to select an emergency contact before going on activities such as hiking, surfing or mountain biking on their own. If the user does not check back into the app at a specified time, an alert by text message is sent to the emergency contact with their last known location and their type of activity.
GPS trackers and satellite alert systems are used by serious adventurers on multi-day trips but Mr O’Connor said that an app for short activities would also be beneficial.
“It’s not a replacement for letting people know what you’re up to, but I’m guilty of going off on my own and not telling anyone so I hope the app can help that. It will also encourage people to alert their contact beforehand to what they’re doing and to be on the lookout for a text.”
Mr O’Connor, who is a keen stand-up paddleboarder, said that the app could be used for any activity. “We’ve already seen a few surfers and snowboarders start using it. We’ll see more and more climbers and hikers when people hit the hills during the summer. You just leave it in the car and check back in to stop the message being sent when you get back,” he said.
He said that an online login to complement the app was being developed so that if a person loses or damages their phone and cannot deactivate the alert before it is sent, they can check back online at their starting point.
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Mr O’Connor said that he was working on a point-to-point version that would allow those on multiple-day trips to alert people when they have reached certain points on their journey.
“I don’t want it to be a rival or replacement for GPS trackers, it’s just an added safety layer to things people already use to mark their progress for themselves,” he said.