The Pocket Outdoor Survival Guide: The Ultimate Guide for Short-Term Survival (2 page)

• 1. When you first get this book, sit down and
  READ it
  . Think about what you are reading and how it can apply to you and your outings.
  
• 2. Reread the chapter entitled
  “Survival Kit”
  and make a list of the items you need to purchase to put one together.
  
• 3. On a weekend you want to do something that is fun and educational, take your survival kit into the woods and spend the night using the items in the kit. Upon completion of the
  overnight test
  , be sure to replace any items that may be difficult to repack into a compact package.This exercise may also help you discover items you will want in your survival kit that my list did not include. Remember it is YOUR survival kit, so modify it to meet your needs.
  
• 4.
  This book does not go into navigational skills.
  I feel this requires training that, like first aid, you should have before you start exploring the backcountry. If you haven’t had training in the proper use of your GPS or map and compass, get it ASAP. That alone can keep you from ever needing this book.
  
• 5.
  This book covers only the most basic first-aid skills.
  It is my belief that everyone who ventures into the backcountry should have successfully taken a Red Cross first-aid course. Also, those who have special medical conditions should be skilled in managing them.
  
• 6.
  Place this book in your survival kit
  so it will be there if, and when, you need it to guide you through a survival situation. It was designed to be small enough to fit into your kit, and concise enough to be a quick and easy resource when you are in trouble.
  
• 7. Be sure you always read, then practice the information found in the chapter entitled
  “Before You Go.”
  This will help keep your time in a survival situation short.
  
• 8. If you find yourself in a lost or stranded situation,
  stop, sit down, think, remain calm, don’t panic and plan to stay put.
  By gaining control of yourself in these first few minutes, you have increased your chances of survival by 50 percent.
  
• 9. When you first realize you are lost and in trouble is the time to dig this book out and use it to guide you toward a safe wait until you are found.
  
• 10. As a Maine game warden once said, “Even in today’s modern world there are many trappers and guides that spend the night in the woods with little more than what is found in a basic survival kit, they spend their lives doing it. Relax—you may even enjoy your unplanned stay in the woods.”
  
  

   
  

  Take a first-aid course and keep your training up to date. You may have to treat your own injuries in a survival emergency.
  

   
  

A search starts quickly when you are reported missing to local authorities. In most cases, this is the county sheriff, district forest ranger or conservation officer. In Canada it is usually the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Today, many of these officers have received formal training in search and rescue organization and know how to respond quickly to a missing outdoorsman emergency.

When a missing outdoorsman report is turned in, the first thing that usually happens is a “search boss” is designated. This is someone with a lot of experience and training in backcountry searches. He organizes the search and establishes priorities. He will ensure that the site where the person was last seen is quickly protected, set up a search headquarters and interview those people who were last with the missing person.

Protecting the “last seen” area keeps wellmeaning people from destroying tracks and other important signs expert trackers will need for tracking the lost person.

The interview with the missing person’s friends/family is most important, as this is where the search boss learns much about the missing person. If a trip plan has been left with someone, it will cut down on the time it takes to get an organized search started. They will have a good idea where to begin looking.

The search director will quickly establish the “area of probability” and the search will be centered there.

 

 

Early in the search, specially trained dogs may be used to trail the missing person. Two to four aircraft are used to quickly locate missing outdoorsmen.

 

The interviewer will be looking for detailed information on the missing person. The person’s name, address, description, clothing worn, boot type (sole information is important to trackers), age, equipment he has with him, medical conditions including medications, experience in the outdoors, physical condition, personality traits, etc. All of this information is important to experienced searchers because it tells them a lot about where to look for the missing person.

Usually the first searchers to hit the trail include trackers with dogs and a hasty team. The hasty team is made up of highly specialized people who go into the most likely areas the missing person is believed to be. This is why it is important to stay put when you first realize you are lost.

At the same time, lookouts and road check teams are posted. Lookouts are located at observation points in the search area and road search teams ride roads near the search area looking for the missing person.

As quickly as possible, aircraft will be brought into the search; often aircraft with specialized equipment to electronically help find the missing person. At that point, the search boss may set up grid searches supervised by professionals and carried out using volunteers.

Many people who are lost fear searchers will only look a few hours then give up, thinking the missing person is dead. This is not true. Most search bosses estimate how long the missing person can survive under the conditions and then plan to search three times that long, if needed. Search efforts go far beyond reasonable expectations.

Lost and stranded people should never give up hope. The search will go on until you are rescued. How fast that search begins, however, depends upon how well you prepared before you went into the woods!

 

Aircraft are used to quickly locate missing outdoorsmen.