We spend a lot of time having fun with Garmin products and sharing people’s adventures here on the blog. But often a note will come to the Garmin inbox that illustrates how our GPS technology is relied upon daily for much more serious matters. Jay’s comments, posted here, remind us all once again to tip our hats to the men and women who bring out the best in our products every day.

I am a volunteer firefighter with the Hedgesville volunteer fire and rescue company in Berkeley County West Virginia. On Saturday, December 19, 2009, at 1600 hours, Company 30 (Hedgesville) Medic 98 (Berkeley County ambulance authority) were dispatched for a subject with back pain in the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area. This area covers 23,000 acres in both Berkeley and Morgan counties in West Virginia. Due to the amount of snow we were getting we ran additional units to assist our ambulance. The dispatch center had a general idea where the patient was located, but it was in a remote area of Sleepy Creek. At this time we had almost 18″ of snow on the ground and 2 male subjects cold and injured from an ATV accident. We called in numerous resources to try to gain access to the area. Our dispatch center managed to get a GPS coordinate off of the cell phone that they were calling from. Using that coordinate, my Garmin Rino 530HCx and the Berkeley County sheriff department’s Chevy Blazer, we managed to get within 250 yards of the subjects, which were almost 2 miles off the nearest hard surface road at 2200 hours. By this time both patients were very hypothermic on top of the injuries sustained in the ATV accident. Both of these men owe their lives to the modern technology that is available to dispatchers and emergency responders today. Thanks Garmin for making such an awesome piece of technology.

Thanks for sharing this amazing note, Jay. Click here to read the news story and watch video here.

The day we announced the Oregon 550t, Garmin’s waterproof touchscreen handheld with a built-in 3.2 megapixel camera, we knew it would get a lot of people’s attention. The hikers and hunters appreciate its preloaded U.S. topo maps, meaning they no longer have to load, erase and repeat when changing areas of exploration. Climbers and campers embrace the built-in barometric altimeter and 3-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass, which shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without holding it level. And geocachers love going paperless, with the ability to display detailed information for up to 5000 caches, such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and description. But we hoped that everyone else would find ways to use Oregon in their favorite hobbies and everyday activities. And they have. 

In their November issue, BIKE magazine (above) says Oregon 550t is perfect for “stoking every rider’s inner nerd” as one of 2010’s 10 Most Promising New Products: “Taking GPS technology to the trail – a movement led by companies like Garmin – has revolutionized the way we find and share new trails. … With 850 megabytes of storage, the Oregon makes taking and geo-synching trail photos easier than ever.” And if you prefer snow to dirt, the folks over at SKI magazine put the 550t in their October issue as part of their fall line of Gear and Gadgets. “The key to this high-end handheld is its big color touchscreen. It’s easy to read in direct sunlight and allows for quick toggling between functions, which include compass, altitude, trip calculator and preloaded topo maps.” 

In the video below, see why hunters are flocking toward the 550t, and be sure to check out the award-winning Land of Oregon minisite to learn more about the rest of the Oregon family of handhelds. 

Still celebrating Bradley Wiggins’ victory and Team Garmin’s strong showing at Australia’s Jayco Herald Sun Tour – where we had 3 in the top 4 and the King of Mountains – we’re thrilled to break this news here:

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, announced today that it has extended for an additional three years its title sponsorship of Team Garmin-Slipstream, the ProTour cycling team dedicated to ethical sporting and developing the next generation of cycling champions. The extension for the U.S.-based team comprised of elite talent from around the world is an addition to the company’s current sponsorship through 2010, marking one of the most significant multi-national sponsorship deals in the history of professional cycling.

“The success of the team spans the globe and surpassed our expectations for the first year and a half of our title sponsorship, bringing Garmin’s reputation for quality, commitment, performance and productivity into countless households in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia,” said Jon Cassat, Garmin’s vice president of communications. “Our objectives were – and continue to be – to integrate our products on sports’ biggest stages and to build global brand awareness. Whether capturing victories around the world, winning national championships or working to develop future generations of talent, Team Garmin has helped us achieve those objectives and has made an impression on billions of potential customers.”

The partnership, which will run through the end of 2013, will provide the team with the opportunity to continue its founding mission: building the next generation of cycling champions. It will also allow Garmin, Slipstream and their partners to develop new technology that will give the team advantages on the road. Most important, the long-term sponsorship provides the team with a platform and foundation for retaining and recruiting the best riders in the sport.

“Since signing with Slipstream prior to the 2008 Tour de France, Garmin has seen an outpouring of support from cyclists and sports fans across the globe, along the roads of major tours and in the stores of our retail partners,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “While providing feedback on product development, the team has shown fans everywhere that the best-in-class Edge® 705 cycling GPS can stand up to the sport’s steepest challenges while suiting the needs of cyclists of any caliber.”

Garmin, which has spent 20 years developing technologies and innovation to enhance users’ lives, has already used the team’s unique perspective and invaluable feedback in developing the new GPS-enabled Edge 500 (expected availability 4th Quarter 2009), which tracks speed, distance, time, GPS position, elevation, calories burned, climb and descent. After the ride, data downloaded to Garmin Connect allows cyclists and staff to study the statistics, looking for any room for improvement for the next day. This data also provides fans and the media access to the riders’ data. The team also benefits from Garmin’s GPS technology in the support vehicles as the iconic Garmin nüvi® helps the team bus and support vehicles travel with speed and ease across two continents. The route-planning capabilities and preloaded maps and points of interest help the team caravan, especially in grand tours when every day brings different destinations and challenges.

“When Garmin first decided to partner with us, we said we believed that a new era of cycling was upon us. Today, with this significant extension, we can now say – the era is here,” said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports, LLC, the sports management company that runs the team. “Garmin’s commitment to innovation and integrity mirrors our own, and knowing that we have their partnership for the next four years means that we can continue to develop the next generation of cycling champions. We can continue to make technological innovations that will give our riders a competitive advantage on the road. And off the road, we can continue to help better the sport.”

Garmin and Slipstream Sports share similar success stories rooted in hard work and innovation. Just as Garmin is a global leader with facilities in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, the Garmin-Slipstream team assembles elite athletes from around the world. Team Garmin features Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta stage winners and national champions from several countries. Garmin’s employees and customers, like the cyclists, staff and fans of Team Garmin, are in the air, behind the wheel and on the move. And they are always thinking of ways to adapt and improve.

“Garmin’s business goals are to extend the reach and success they have achieved in the US and Europe and to create a global marketing platform for their brand,” said Matt Johnson, President of Slipstream. “The extension of this sponsorship is a testament to the team meeting those business goals.”

Owned and managed by Slipstream Sports, Team Garmin-Slipstream is dedicated to promoting ethical sporting and developing the next generation of cycling champions. In 2007, Slipstream created the most progressive anti-doping system in the professional sports world and now works with Anti-Doping Research, Inc. (ADR) and ADSI (the Anti-Doping Sciences Institute) to continue its anti-doping mission.

For more information on Team Garmin, visit www.garmin.com/teamgarmin and www.slipstreamsports.com.