Importantly, with most current PLBs you don't actually see if your emergency call has been received at all, which can make an important difference for survival (i.e. it informs the decision whether it's best to stay put and try to hold out, or whether getting to higher ground with clearer sky is essential).
Fortunately, at least that part is changing: Cospas-Sarsat (the service listening for PLB emergency calls) can now use Galileo satellites as a return channel to send an acknowledgement to the newest PLBs in some regions [1].
It doesn't address the "type of emergency" concern, though – not everything requires a helicopter.
Importantly, with most current PLBs you don't actually see if your emergency call has been received at all, which can make an important difference for survival (i.e. it informs the decision whether it's best to stay put and try to hold out, or whether getting to higher ground with clearer sky is essential).
Fortunately, at least that part is changing: Cospas-Sarsat (the service listening for PLB emergency calls) can now use Galileo satellites as a return channel to send an acknowledgement to the newest PLBs in some regions [1].
It doesn't address the "type of emergency" concern, though – not everything requires a helicopter.
[1] https://www.euspa.europa.eu/newsroom/news/first-galileo-retu...