A Framework For Prioritisation

If you’re in an emergency situation in the outdoors, if you’re lost, if you’re stranded, if you’re in a situation that may ultimately become a survival situation, what do you do? How do you prioritise?

It’s raining, you don’t have the right equipment, you’re lost, one of your party’s injured, nobody knows where you are. What do you do? What do you do first?

Medical

What you need to do first is deal with any medical issues.

Any first aid that needs to be done, that’s your priority.

A casualty will die of a blocked airway or uncontrolled bleeding. This will happen before they die of hypothermia, or lack of food, or lack of water.

If they’re bleeding profusely or if they’re not breathing, that’s certainly going to kill them first.

I’d strongly recommend anybody heading outdoors – particularly off the beaten track – to have some good first aid and medical training.

PLAN

Once you’ve dealt with the medical issues, what you need to remember is the acronym PLAN.

That’s P-L-A-N and what this stand for is protection, location, acquisition, and navigation.

We’re going to look at those each in turn…

Protection

One of the biggest risks we face outdoors is hypothermia particularly when faced with wet, windy, and cold conditions.

Our first line of defence is our clothing, and it’s up to us to manage our clothing properly by ventilating, adjusting our layers, and regulating our activity.

Protecting yourself from environmental conditions isn’t just about the cold. You also need to take care to avoid dehydration, overheating, or getting too much sun.

The highest priority is likely to be shelter, particularly if anybody is injured.

A good shelter can provide cool shade or protect us from cold, wet, or windy conditions.

Fire is very important for staying warm outdoors. We can warm ourselves directly, we can heat a shelter, we can produce hot drinks and hot food, as well as dry our clothes.

Therefore, fire lighting is one of your most important skills. Make sure you practice various techniques before you really need them.

A shelter and a fire makes for very protective combination. It’s a combination that will keep you alive in conditions where you might otherwise perish.

And wherever you are, as the sun goes down, you will appreciate a fire not only for its warmth but also its light. Plus, it’s a fantastic boost to your morale.

You don’t always sleep well outside without sleeping kit but a fire makes it more bearable and will warm your bones until the first rays of sun in the morning.

Location

Imagine there is a plane going over.

Maybe it’s looking for me, but I don’t have anything ready.

I don’t have a signal fire.

I don’t have anything to signal with.

I’m wearing drab clothing.

Nobody is going to see me. Particularly not in amongst trees.

To maximise the chances of being located by searchers, you need to be able to see and be seen.

And you need to make the necessary preparations before you start looking for food, even before you start looking for water.

There’s no point in having loads of food if people can’t find you.

Do everything you can to maximise your chances of being seen by searchers or passersby.

Make sure that you can actually see the searchers when they come looking for you. If there’s more than one of you, taking turns to keep watch.

Acquisition

Next comes acquisition of resources. The most important is water. Sometimes, gathering water is obvious and easy.

Other times, it needs more ingenuity.

Then comes food. And unless you have a weapon, your best bets are carbohydrate rich plants, small game and fish.

The greater your bushcraft skills, the more you’ll be able to improvise from nature, tools, materials, and other useful items.

Navigation

It’s never been easier to reach wild and remote parts of our planet, and we’re doing it more and more for recreation and adventure.

The question is though, what do we do when things go wrong?

Walking out to safety is commonly most people’s first thought but there are often advantages to staying put. These include materials, equipment, food and water that might be carried in vehicles or other modes of transport.

There are also dangers in moving away from your last known position.

Provided you told someone where you were going, people will know where to look for you.

So in many situations, it pays to sit and wait for your rescuers.

Covering rough unknown terrain can be arduous at the best of times so be realistic.

Ask yourself, are your navigation skills up to it, are you used to negotiating this type of terrain?

Will you cope out in the open if the weather deteriorates, or will you put yourself into an even more desperate situation?

PLAN: Summary

Remember PLAN. Protection, location, acquisition, and navigation.

But before you even start with plan, remember to deal with any medical issues, any first aid that needs to be done.

Then protection, location, acquisition, and navigation.

Hopefully, you never have to put that into action but if you do, I hope it serves you well.

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Related Material On Paul Kirtley’s Blog

A Framework For Preparing Yourself For A Survival Situation

Survival Psychology With Dr Sarita Robinson

The Importance Of Leaving Word Before Heading Into The Wild

What To Do If You Get Lost Outdoors: STOP