Group protocol should the group become separated

Question

A small group (2-10 people total) is travelling in a wilderness area. For whatever reason a person or a couple get separated. What is the best strategy for the lost ones? What is the best strategy to be employed by the group. The goal is to reunite. How important is it for the group to sit down and talk about this before a trip?

A couple of algorithms I have seen my buddies perform:

First one: Both group proceed to the next checkpoint, that was defined for example at the morning looking at the map.

Second one: Both groups return to the point of separation.

I would love to read some theory on this, so quoting sources is very welcome.

Here is one example. We are talking military here, special forces mind you. They go on a mission, get separated, and that is one of their major mistakes. One survivor.

Another example: just yesterday evening I was riding bike with two friends. I turn left, they shout at me that they are going another way, I do not confirm (as I had not seen or heard them).

Answer 1

The most important part is to agree on a strategy beforehand and to not continue forward when you're injured, lost, or disoriented.

A typical strategy might be:

Each hiker to go at their own pace to that day's destination. The first group there gets to setup camp so the slower hikers aren't trying to do too many things, like hanging their bear bag, in the dark. Every individual (or at least subgroup) should have enough to survive a few days alone in their own backpack. Everyone should also have a small first aid kit and a way to signal to others, e.g. a whistle.

If anyone becomes lost, they should immediately stop, get their bearings, and begin hiking back to the prior day's location. Once there, they shouldn't move for the next day.

On the morning after someone fails to make it to a way point, the group should organize a search and always travel in pairs or greater. If there are too few people to leave someone at the camp, then a note should be left. Anyone that remains at the site should have a predefined time to begin backtracking. The first priority of the search party should be to get to the last known way point. If the lost hikers cannot be found there or enroute, a pair of hikers should return to civilization to report the missing hikers and any pairs remaining can begin searching in any obvious paths in an organized fashion.

Predefined signals are important. E.g. with the whistle, 3 long blasts is a standard emergency call, 2 long blasts could be "I'm lost, but otherwise ok", 1 long blast could be "I'm searching, stay put", and 1 short blast could be "I'm here, reply back with your location". Rocks can be placed in a row on side trails to indicate that a search party is currently down that trail. And note paper to leave messages at each way point are handy to indicate who went where, and when.

Answer 2

The most important thing is not to wander around randomly looking for each other - this is how a lot of mild situations become severe ones, especially if visibility is poor (a highly likely cause of a group becoming separated.)

The best policy to take is one of prevention rather than cure - ensure everyone is visible at regular intervals, don't wander far off from the group, and ensure that everyone is familiar with the current position and the route taken.

If a couple do get separated, then there's one of two main approaches I'd take:

• Meet up at the previous or next checkpoint, and if a sensible amount of time has passed and the person still doesn't show up, start a search
• Start an organised, methodical search for the lost couple or individual.

I wouldn't recommend returning to the point of separation since, most of the time, this point will only be roughly defined (if at all) and could just end up confusing things further. Established checkpoints are known definitive points, so remove some potential for error.

Of course, the approach you take has to be decided in advance and will be influenced by many factors:

• How strong a navigator the lost couple are (if they're not, trying to navigate somewhere could make things worse)
• How dangerous the terrain is and how familiar the lost are with this terrain
• Whether they're contactable by mobile phone, radio or some other means

There's no hard and fast rule and it's very ad-hoc dependant on the situation, but it definitely needs to be decided in advance. Otherwise, the lost couple may decide it's better to stay where they are and await a search, and everyone else might be waiting for them at a checkpoint - or the lost couple may return to the previous checkpoint and everyone else the next...

It's also worth saying if you do start a search, make sure as a group you know exactly what you're doing, you do it methodically and you minimise the risk of losing anyone else as far as you can. There are proper search techniques that can be used - I won't go into them here (that's the scope of a different question!) but it definitely makes good reading!

Answer 3

Each scenario is probably different, so you'd likely make a plan on the hoof: How far are you from your previous 'checkpoint', and how far is it to the next? What time of day is it, etc...

If the 'lost' couple were at the rear of the group (a likely scenario) and you're following a rerasonably well defined trail, then backtracking for a while (or at least, sitting and waiting) to look for them seems common sense: An accident or injury could have slowed their progress significantly, and the next checkpoint could be a long way off.

And, who's carrying any group medical kit..?