When my son and I got ‘lost’ in the woods for the recent Search and Rescue exercise, we each took along some items in our own daypacks to make our adventure safe and fun.

And when the whole exercise was over, I asked a search manager what advice he had for anyone heading on a real outdoor adventure.

Without hesitation he said, “The number two thing is to go prepared!”

And he had suggestions:

—Be dressed for the weather and the outdoors appropriate for the time of year, and take precautionary equipment, even if you are traveling in a car! There are people who have had more than one flat tire (on the same occasion) in the middle of nowhere and it got dark and the temp dropped and they had to hike out for help…so think in advance about what you might need if you encounter trouble…a backpack, a flashlight with fresh batteries, good hiking boots, lots of water, snacks…How can it hurt to have extra items with you even if you don’t need them? It could mean the difference between life and death!

—Take along protection from sun (hat, sunscreen…), bugs (repellent, allergy medication…), cuts, scrapes (a small personal first aid kit)…

—Have extra clothing…a sweater, maybe a rain jacket, or a coat, spare socks…

—And it can come in handy to have a pocket knife, toilet paper, plastic bags including a big one (for many uses like picking up your own garbage, using as a tarp…), a working pen and paper, a watch, a compass…

So what’s the number one piece of advice from the search manager?

Let someone (your neighbor, a friend, a relative) know where you are going and when you expect to be back! Leave a note…and yes, if you can, a map of the area you’ll be.

Imagine being lost in the woods, with no protection, and nobody knows where you are…or even that you’re missing…until it’s too late.

And one thing I’ve learned as a subject in SAREX 2008…when they are looking for you and have found you, it can still take a while to get you out depending on how badly hurt you are and exactly where you are located. As one of the techs said to me, “It’s a hurry up and wait procedure.” They have to follow safety protocol and make sure they have the equipment they need to make a successful recovery.

Once my son and I were located down the ravine, it took a few hours before both of us were safely hauled out. And when I reached the top of the ravine and saw approx 12 rescuers and so much equipment involved in our scenario (not counting the people back at Incident Command monitoring radio transmissions, etc), I was blown away!

When you are lost, a lot of people care and are there to help.

And in our case, we were rescued when it was 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit)! If you have a survival story, I’d love to hear about it.

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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