Who would YOU trust in the Boonies?

When I go hiking or boating with my friends they seldom ask...
"Hey did you pack the first aid kit?"  

Are they assuming I brought one,
or has anyone even thought about it?

What if MY life depends on my buddies
skills and experience?

See? There's always a sign to tell you right where cell phone coverage ends!

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"I thought YOU turned the stove off. Really, that was a $500 tent? Wow, nylon melts fast, doesn't it?"

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"But the rental guy said it was strong enough you could jump on it!"

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"What do you mean 10 essentials?"

Wilderness First Aid...
Buehler?...Buehler?...Anyone...ANYONE?
Would you know what to do if your only hiking partner were severely injured in the middle of nowhere? Do the people you go outside with know backcountry first aid? Do they have enough experience they could develop a detailed rescue plan if cell phones won't reach 911 due to lack of signal? Will anyone know enough to save your life if you are severely injured, losing consciousness, and no longer able to tell anyone where you stashed the car keys?

Each time I teach a Wilderness First Aid class I have the unique experience of watching the growing concern on student's faces as I pose these challenging questions. As I get older and more prone to injury myself, I also get more and more nervous about all the things that could go wrong in the wilderness and nagging worry creeps into my soul that I won't remember what to do either. So it always scares me a little to see highly intelligent people, who very well could be my next hiking partners, squirm in their seats when they start to think about the consequences of not knowing too.

Fortunately, blank stares and perspiring brows motivate me to teach willing students everything I CAN possibly remember about the vast number of things I've learned can go wrong on outdoor trips. In twenty five years guiding teens and young adults in the woods. I've learned many times over that NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, is completely prepared to perform excellent first aid in the wilderness. You can never have enough resources, training, and confidence to feel absolutely prepared in every situation. But you can prepare yourself in advance by being proactive in planning and packing, talking through multiple hypothetical rescue situations while hiking with your buddies and later swapping "what if" scenarios around the evening campfire. All these conversations go a long way toward improving real time responses when bad things do happen.

Whenever I go hiking with friends I try to be extra conscientious beforehand and think through the types of first aid and emergency rescue scenarios we might encounter. But you might be surprised to discover that few backcountry enthusiasts ever intentionally choose to plan for, really want to talk about, or think through emergency rescue plans before they need to. Does staying silent about our worries prevent bad things from happening? How would your friends, partner or family members deal with severe difficulties in the wilderness if something suddenly happened to you? Have you ever asked them? Could you possibly talk about plans in the car on the way to the trailhead? Or maybe on the beach while loading your kayaks? Can you have these conversations without destroying the trip's positive mojo? Would it really hurt to come up with a few pro-active ideas in case bad things actually do happen?

The scariest moments in the wilderness are when you realize something is going seriously wrong and it is suddenly up to you to simultaneously plan a rescue while performing first aid. The decisions you face in the next few minutes and hours can be overwhelming and intimidating, however even a little pre-trip preparation and review of common first aid skills, rescue planning, and map and compass knowledge can go a long way toward making a bad situation turn out much better for everyone. One of the simplest things adventurers can do is to let at least one person at home know where you are going and when you plan to return, and then NOT changing routes without notifying those people first, no matter how inviting that side trail looks!

Summer hiking and boating season is almost upon us! Find a Wilderness First Aid Class in your area or review a good Wilderness First Aid manual before you head out on your first trip. Double check you've packed an up to date first aid kit and learn how to use everything in it before you need to. Think about the weather and make plans to survive a night out in the cold. Pay attention to cell phone coverage and battery life wherever you are. Learn to read the map and compass along the way, making sure you know where you are all the time and all the possible evacuation routes. Leave yourself more time than you need to get to your destination. And more than anything...make concrete plans with your travel-mates BEFORE things go wrong.

The life you save could be your own!

Get outdoors and have FUN...
but plan for the worst too, so it never really happens!