MIDSAR - Middle Creek Search & Rescue

Guidelines for Safety in the Wilderness

• Tell someone your trip plans and when you expect to return
• Never hike alone. Parties of three or more are best.
• Carry the basic survival tools:
- Whistle - sound three short consecutive blasts for an emergency.
- Garbage bag for shelter.
- Two quarts of water and high energy snacks.
- Have a compass and a map of your route and the skill to use them.

What to do if you get lost!

• DO NOT PANIC!!!
• Go to high ground and use your map and compass to orient yourself. If you still don’t know where you are, stay put and hug a tree... make it your friend.
• If you have told someone of your travel plans (and when you expect to return) they will know to start looking for you and will call for help.
• Seek shelter before dark. A standard garbage bag provides good protection.
• Stay together as a group. Do not become separated. There is strength in
numbers.
• Remember to blow your whistle and listen for a response.

Someone is lost, what should I do?

• Call for help immediately, a missing person is an emergency.
• Protect (allow no one to enter the area) within 100 feet of the “point last seen.” This provides searchers and search dogs with a starting point.
• Obtain a description of the subject. Searchers will need to know the subject’s name, age, height, weight, hair color, eye color, an accurate clothing description, any travel plans, and when the subject had expected to return.
• Don’t become a victim yourself. Let the emergency responders do their job.
• STAY CALM! Help is on the way.
• Have friends and family gather when help arrives to provide searchers with additional information about the missing subject.