Lessons from Mt. Tom

[Brad]

When I get back to NC tomorrow I am heading to REI and picking up several whistles. I will have them in my pack to hand out to others on our hike next time.

[Charlie]

When I get back to NC tomorrow I am heading to REI and picking up several whistles. I will have them in my pack to hand out to others on our hike next time.

the best one to get is one without a pea that way if it gets wet or freezes it still works
we use a fox-40 whistles in our search team ,it has a very shrill sound and can be heard far far away
here is a link
http://www.fox40world.com/index.cfm?...oducts&id=4130

[Bill O]

A whistle is on top of my safety gear list.

[Charlie]

we teach a class to kids on what to do if they get lost or needs help
it is a hug-a-tree program

# Hug a tree once you know you are lost. One of the greatest fears a person of any age can have is of being alone. Hugging a tree or other stationary object and even talking to it calms the child down, and prevents panic. By staying in one place, the child is found far more quickly, and can't be injured in a fall.

# Always carry a trash bag and whistle on a picnic, hike, or camping trip. By making a hole[*] in the side of the bag for the face, and putting it on over the head, it will keep the child dry and warm. The whistle is louder than the childs voice and takes less energy to use.

*[*] Without this hole, there can be danger of suffocation.

# My parents won't be angry at me. Time and again children have avoided searchers because they were ashamed of getting lost, and afraid of punishment.
Anyone can get lost, adult or child. If they know a happy reunion, filled with love is waiting, they will be less frightened, less prone to panic, and work hard to be found.

# Make Yourself Big. From helicopters, people are hard to see when they are standing up, when they are in a group of trees, or wearing dark and drab clothing. Find your tree to hug near a small clearing if possible.
Wear bright colored clothes when you go near the woods or desert. Lie down when the helicopter flies over. If it is cool and you are rested, make crosses or SOS using broken shrubbery, rocks, or by dragging your foot in the dirt.

# There are no animals out there that want to hurt you. If you hear a noise at night, yell at it or blow your whistle. If it is an animal it will run away to protect itself. If it is a searcher, you will be found. Fears of the dark and of lions and tigers and bears are a big factor in panicking children into running. They need strong reassurance to stay put and be safe.

# You have hundreds of friends looking for you. We have children in the local area of a search tell us, "My parents would never spend the money to search for me with all these people". Search personnel are mainly volunteers who work with other professionals who charge nothing and do it because they care. Many children who are lost don't realize that if they sit down and stay put, one of the many searchers will find them. Some are afraid of strangers and people in uniform, and don't respond to yells. Many have actually hidden from searchers they knew were looking for them.

# Footprinting your child is a five minute excercise that cuts down the time of a search by several hours. Have the child walk across a piece of aluminum foil on a soft surface, such as carpeting or a folded towel. Mark the foil with the child's name. With this print, trackers can separate your child's track from the hundreds of others in the area, and quickly determine the direction of travel.

[TrishandAlex]

Again everyone, thank you for your kindness and concern.

Charlie, what a great class to teach! What great instruction -- hug a tree. I'm passing that on to my kids as soon as they wake up tomorrow. And thanks for the link. I'm going to get a few more whistles, the kind you suggested. Alex and Sage always carry two each, which is good because the one Sage wears around her neck fell off at some point yesterday..I used the one I had stashed in the mesh of her pack. Yes, whistles are a wonderful thing. They're also cheap and lightweight. Gotta have one, or several.

PS: silly minor detail: I spelled "lightning" wrong in my original post and now I can't edit it. Sorry for the error.

[Charlie]

when we do the class it is funny how the kids say they have there cell phone and thats all they need
we tell them not to call for help because they will loose there voice in a short time .
we tell them you can use a hard stick and bang it on a hollow log 3 times ,the sound will carry good .they can also use 2 rocks and bang them together [ then i say my little joke ,do you know how you can make 2 rocks a little louder you put your finger in between the rocks then you will be yelling at the same time ]
we also say not to spell out help with wood or other things it will take to much stuff ,all you need is a big X then when the air unite is looking for you they will see an X .there are not many other people putting big X's out there every day .

[Charlie]

when i was on Mt Mansfield Stowe Vermont there was a family with 2 girls about 6 or 7 and a boy about 4 or 5 and he was having some foot pain but the girls wanted to go to the top . we were where the tower is and they talked there parents to go to the top
[ and that is a 1hr hike away ]


Hosted on Fotki

well as they were walking to go to the top i had to say something
i said they need to watch the weather the rain was close and they were in shirts and no rain gear .
i said in my SAR training we saw a film with a family of 4 wanting to do the same thing then a storm came in when they were almost at the top . then the narrator in the film said they found there bodies the next day all huddled together dead but the dog was alive

so im glad they went back to the car
if they were to keep going it was raining 15min after they got to the car
i was happy for saying something

[TrishandAlex]

i said in my SAR training we saw a film with a family of 4 wanting to do the same thing then a storm came in when they were almost at the top . then the narrator in the film said they found there bodies the next day all huddled together dead but the dog was alive

so im glad they went back to the car
if they were to keep going it was raining 15min after they got to the car
i was happy for saying something

I'm happy you said something too. I admit I would have liked to have seen their faces while you were telling them the SAR story.

[storygirll]

Charlie,
Excellent lesson in the hug-a-tree program. I have saved your post and will use it in the library during our outdoor safety program. You never know what will stick in a child's mind. Your words were very strong.

>^..^<

[Charlie]

Charlie,
Excellent lesson in the hug-a-tree program. I have saved your post and will use it in the library during our outdoor safety program. You never know what will stick in a child's mind. Your words were very strong.

>^..^<

here is a video we show at our demos we know the people in the film

https://www.anpr.org/order-lost.htm