Insuring Your Survival While Traveling

During late fall, 2006, five families suffered the tragedy of the death of husbands and fathers, resulting from getting lost, or being in a place where rescue was impossible. What makes both these occurrences even more tragic was the fact that in both cases (The Kim family and the three Mt. Hood, mountain climbers), their chances for survival could have been vastly improved had they employed some techniques for survival readily available to everyone.

Assess the Risks

Both the Kim family and the three climbers undertook their travels at a time when weather was known to be changeable and potentially very dangerous. That should have been factored into their respective planning to a far greater degree than it evidently did.

In the case of the Kim family, once they turned onto a little-trafficked road, and encountered heavy snowfall, they would have been well advised to turn back while still able to do so. The very nature of mountain climbing is fraught with risk, but climbing during a time of the year when severe weather has a great likelihood of occurring, is an exercise in tempting fate.

The term "Situational Awareness," is something we all need to learn to apply. Whatever the benefits, the potential of being caught in weather which makes long term survival or rapid rescue unlikely or impossible , is something to which every traveler must give the closest consideration.

Protect Yourself from the Environment

All the prevention which can be applied still doesn't guarantee that you will never be in a survival situation. Natural catastrophes are going to happen - hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and blizzards will inevitably occur. Just as you have survival kits and tools to survive these events, so too should you have the necessary tools to keep you safe until rescue is made. Here are the things you must have, in order of priority.

• Shelter from the elements: Assuming you are traveling by car, it should be adequate to protect you from the elements, but you will need additional support to keep you alive if you are trapped for more than a few hours. If you are in foot, or are going to leave your car, you must have alternative shelter. In the end , that was what killed Mr. Kim and the three climbers. In the Kim case, he left the car to seek rescue, with no shelter available to him, and in the end died from exposure to the elements. The same was true of the climbers, who sought to build snow caves, which failed to give them the necessary protection from the cold and wind. Light weight and compact tents will give you protection from the elements, without placing an undue burden on the weight or bulk of what you carry.
• Temperature Protection: Both hypothermia and heat stroke can kill quickly and insidiously. Whether in shelter or on foot, you need protection against cold or heat depending on the environment in which you find yourself. One can only guess what was the thinking of Mr. Kim when he left the shelter of his car to seek help. Whatever those thoughts were, he failed to assess the risk he was taking by exposing his body to the cold without any tools to prevent these effects. Portable and reusable warming vests and similar tools can offer significant protection from the cold. If you find yourself in an environment in which evergreen trees grow, remember that even wet wood will burn, if you can find kindling such as pine cones to dry out small pieces of branches.
• Water: While snow is likely to be available in most cold weather situations, remember it should be heated until it becomes water. Eating snow adds to the chilling that you are already combating. This means that you will need containers for the snow, and some means of heating it.
• Food: There are so many food products available, that I won't spend time in categorizing them. Make certain when you buy for your trip that purchases should be nonperishable. Make certain you have tools for opening the packaging (can openers, box cutters, etc.). In all cases whatever you buy must be weatherproof.

Be Proactive in Arranging your Rescue

You need to plan ahead to insure that you can be found. Only recently has consumer technology advanced to the point where travelers can insure that after being lost or trapped by weather conditions, can quickly, precisely, and reliably communicate their location to rescuers. Here are some of the tools you can use to accomplish this task. Lacking these tools, in large measure, have contributed to the deaths of many, beyond the two incidents listed above.

• Provide an Itinerary: Before you leave on any trip which is going to place you in a remote location, you should provide a detailed itinerary to your family, friends or co-workers. Should you find yourself in trouble, this will serve to narrow the locations for searchers to investigate. As much as you can, schedule the times you expect to arrive at each location, and if you are going into really remote locations, arrange for periodic check-in to demonstrate your safe arrival.
• Cell Phones: While, in addition to voice communication, many cell phones can transmit the precise location (by GPS) of their owners, there remain a large number of places from which no signal can be received. Relying on your phone, with no other alternatives can be deadly!
• Personal Locator Beacons: Formerly used only by planes and water craft, these radio transmitters are designed to be detectable for miles from their location. When coupled with a GPS unit, they transmit location to with a few feet of the user. In the past, weight and expense made their use prohibitive, but now, there are a number of vendors who will rent these locators for as little as $50.00 a week. Weighing less than one pound, they are convenient, easy to use, and an absolute life saver.
• GPS Navigation: Had the Kim family had GPS navigation (either installed or portable) in their rental car, they would have instantly known they had turned in the wrong direction, and would never have found themselves in a location resulting in Mr. Kim's death. No tool is more essential for those entering an unfamiliar region, whether by car or on foot.
• Flare Guns: Once you have reason to believe that a search for you has started, use flare guns or other high-intensity light sources to assist searchers in their efforts to find you. There are a number of forms of these tools, so determine the category best suited to your needs.