Hot answers tagged emergencies
8
First, this answer is not a substitute for proper training. I recommend taking a class in Wilderness First Aid or higher to be better prepared for things like treating hypothermic people.
Second, hypothermia is a term that tends to have different connotations with different people. Sometimes what people call "hypothermia" is just a very cold individual, or ...
6
I have heard of a wide range of stories where people were saved using some string, a piece of flint etc. (A related example from earlier this month is reported in the Hamilton Advertiser where a boy used the laces from his trousers to save a dog.)
and if they had had a survival kit they would have used that, but the problem is that most people do not carry ...
5
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 ...
4
A neat little (recursive) acronym i learned in my survival education in the army is STOP (freely translated from Swedish):
Stop - Don't panic,
Think - Consider your situation, and do not deny the fact that you are lost,
Orientate - Look at and get familiar with your surroundings,
Plan - Make a plan on how to solve your problem.
This is, of course, not a ...
3
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 ...
2
Yes, first stop to not make things worse, take a deep breath, and collect your thoughts. After that it depends a lot on the situation. I don't like most of the other answers because they assumed certain situations without stating their assumptions.
What you should do next depends on a lot of things, so much so that giving any simple answer is impossible. ...
2
The other answers focus on general survival kits, but don't give much coverage to first aid kits.
Here's what you need in a first aid kit, in order of importance:
Training. It takes up no space, weighs nothing, and is more critical than anything else.
A cell phone. In a serious medical emergency, there's no piece of equipment you'll want more. Take it ...
1
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, ...
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