6 Tips for Handling Hiking Emergencies

• Search strategies for children lost on hike
• When kids eat something they shouldn't
• Carry safety whistle when hiking with kids
• Watch for kids who are 'risk-takers' on hikes
• Carry waterproof matches even on hike
• What to do when lost with kids on a day hike

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

How to Avoid/Treat 6 Kinds of Hiking Injuries

• Altitude sickness
• Bleeding
• Blisters
• Broken bones
• Bruise
• Chigger bites
• Cuts, wounds
• BONUS: Get children right kind of footwear for hikes

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

5 Tips on Handling a Hiking Emergency

• What to do when a child gets lost on a hiker
• Avoid eating these poisonous berries
• How to avoid and treat snake bites on hikes
• Children should carry whistle, ID card
• How to build a lean-to shelter in case of an emergency – or for fun
• BONUS: Top 10 tips to ensure a successful day hike

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Know how to avoid, treat foot-related injury

One of the quickest ways to turn a family member, friend or yourself off to hiking is to injure a foot while on the trail. Something as simple as a tiny blister can make a hike unbearable. Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to prevent foot-related injuries – and should one occur, you can treat it to so the walk can be completed with a minimum of discomfort.

To keep your feet healthy on a hike, you should:
• Prepare your feet in advance of the hike. This includes trimming your toenails and tying your boot laces properly.
• Keep your feet dry and warm on a hike. Always wear the proper socks and understand when to change them.
• Follow common sense to avoid sore feet, legs and back during the hike. Whenever hiking, maintain good posture and stay hydrated.
• Carry a first-aid kit for your feet. Should you suffer an injury, a couple of lightweight items can go a long way in dealing with a blister or sprained ankle.
• Know how to treat common foot injuries. Blisters, a twisted ankle, and frostbite all can be treated when on the trail to minimize the pain.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Reinforce in kids what to do when lost

If lost, hug a tree. Photo courtesy of George Hodan.

We’ve all heard the advice that if lost the best thing to do is to stay put and let someone find you. Not staying put means using up much needed energy, food and water, and risks moving farther away from where search crews would look.

While lost adult hikers with excellent navigation skills might be able to find their way back to civilization, children won’t be able to do so. One effective way to reinforce the rule of “If lost, stay put” with a group of young children is through a simple game that can be played at the park or during a rest break on the hike.

Have the kids play tag. They are “safe” (and remain so), however, if they touch a tree. They may touch a tree as long as they like to remain safe.

To add a little competition to the game, limit to one the number of children that can touch any given tree. In addition, have all the kids start at the center of a group of trees that they must run to.
After the game, link and reinforce the message that if lost the best thing to do is to stay put by touching a trailside tree.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

How to avoid eating poisonous plants during hiking emergency

While a dandelion is edible, avoid eating its stem, which contains a milky sap.
Photo courtesy of Photoree.

During a hiking emergency, the time may came when you need to forage to get you by for a few hours until you reach safety. To forage, though, you’ll need to know which plants to avoid – that is, which plants are poisonous.

Generally, any wild plants with the following characteristics are poisonous (or they at least will make you very sick and hence dehydrate you):
g Almond-like scent
g Beans, bulbs or seeds inside a pod
g Black or pink spurs on grain heads
g Group of three leaves
g Milky sap
g Shiny leaves
g Spines, thorns or hairs on stem (exceptions are plants with aggregate berries, such as blackberries and raspberries)
g Umbrella-shaped flowers
g White berries

In addition, just because you've seen an animal eat a plant, don’t presume it’s safe for you. Those animals have evolved to eat that type of plant. For example. birds often enjoy holly berries, but they are toxic to virtually all other animals.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Prepare day hiking kids for the possibility of getting lost

Lost children should stay away from water. Photo courtesy of Photoree.

Every parents’ nightmare is a lost child, and on a hiking trail the possibility of that occurring is great. In the woods, children easily can slip out of sight, and the dangers of an injury from a fall or of drowning rise. While such instances are rare, they can occur.

Arming our children with the knowledge they need to ensure they can be more quickly found is thus paramount before setting out on a hike.

Knowledge is power
Children should know basic information about themselves that will help authorities reunite them with their parents. Among that info is:
g Their first and last name
g How to spell their last name
g Their parents’ names
g Their telephone number
g The name of the place they are staying, such as the campground or hotel
As a two-year-old likely can do little better than remember his first and last name (which he may not pronounce correctly) and because panic can seize up an older child’s memory, also have children carry an emergency information card that contains the above information. That card should include their full address, blood type, and allergies.

What to do if lost
Teaching a child what to do once he realizes he’s lost is paramount. First, he ought to stay put. The more he walks, the more likely he is to wander farther away from the trail and so will be more difficult to find. Going near water or climbing rocks also can lead to injuries, so a lost child should refrain from those activities. Secondly, have him blow on his safety whistle rather than shout for help. Shouting will cause him to lose his voice much more quickly than blowing on a whistle will cause him to lose his breath. Worse, if he’s hoarse, he may not be able to respond loudly enough to rescuers calling his name. The sound of a safety whistle also can be heard from farther away than a kid’s shout.

Ask for help
When another hiker crosses paths, the child should ask for help. The odds are against a fellow hiker being a dangerous person. The child should explain he is lost, that he needs help, and ask the adult to escort him to safety. Teach a child to present his emergency information card to an adult.

Supply your child
If a child is old enough, have him wear a daypack with a few sundries in it. Among the items would be an extra emergency information card, a snack or two, a bottle of water, a sweatshirt and hat, a map with your trail marked on it, an extra safety whistle, and a small flashlight. If your child is a teenager, include a first-aid kit that he knows how to use. These items can help a child get by for a few hours until rescuers find him.

Practice makes perfect
In addition to going over all of this with a child, practice it. The safety of the backyard makes a perfect spot to “practice” what to do if lost. A child who has simulated this experience and knows that people are looking for him is less likely to panic should he actually become lost. In addition, each time you head out to the trail, review the background information he needs to provide to adults and what to do if lost.

Read more about day hiking with children in my Hikes with Tykes guidebooks.

Warning signs of an approaching tornado during a day hike

Photo courtesy of NOAA

With spring’s arrival, wind storms and tornadoes become more frequent. Unfortunately what may have started as an exceptionally warm spring morning that was perfect for a day hike can quickly turn into a dangerous afternoon of violent storms.

Knowing how to identify the signs of an impending tornado will help you determine if you should either immediately quit the hike or head for cover. Even if a tornado never appears, similar conditions can lead to high winds that also are dangerous.

When on a day hike, look for these tornado warning signs:
g Bad clouds – Two types of clouds suggest a tornado: a supercell and a wall cloud. A supercell is a type of a thunderhead that looks like cauliflower as opposed to an anvil; the winds inside a supercell can reach up to 170 mph. A wall cloud looks like a dense wall with clearly defined edges.
g Green sky – Often the color of the sky will turn a sickly green hue before a tornado strikes.
g Conical-shaped clouds – If a needle-like cloud descends from a cloud’s base, this suggests that air is moving as if around a funnel. You should immediately seek cover.
g Your ears pop – If you haven’t changed altitude, this indicates a sudden drop in air pressure, which usually accompanies a twister.
g Roaring sound – Should you hear what sounds like a waterfall or a lot of wings flapping all at once but there’s no waterfall or birds around, a tornado may be heading your direction.

Related article:
g What to do if a tornado occurs during a day hike

Find out about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

If lost on winter hike, build an emergency tree well shelter

The well at the bottom of a tree where no snow falls is
the perfect place to build an emergency shelter.
Photo courtesy of  Wikipedia.

If forced to stay out overnight in the wilds during winter, you’ll want to find shelter right away. This will keep you out of the wind and hopefully ensure you don’t have to lay on the snow, which can lead to hypothermia. Don’t worry if you can’t find a man-made shed or cabin, though – you can build your own shelter in a pinch. One of the easiest to construct is a tree well shelter.

As hiking past evergreen trees, note how there’s a depression of snow around the trunks. Each tree’s canopy of branches limited the amount snow from falling in this zone, which is called the tree well. It’s a perfect place to set up an emergency shelter.

Begin by collecting other boughs that you can prop against the evergreen branches, with the branch’s woody, pole end going into the snow. This is the wall for your shelter. You may need to layer the boughs to minimize the wind coming through it and to ensure that if one bough falls down that there’s no hole in your shelter. Be sure to leave an opening for a doorway and setting aside boughs that can be used to close it.

Next, remove the snow from the tree well by gently pushing it against the boughs used to form the shelter’s walls. Then cover the tree well with boughs. This is the sleeping mat that will keep you off the cold ground.

Have everyone take a potty break at least a hundred feet downwind from the shelter. Finally, once everyone is inside, close up the doorway. Don’t start any fires within this makeshift shelter.

As snow is an excellent insulator, a properly built shelter combined with body heat can result in a pad that is up to 40 degrees warmer than the temperature outside.

Related articles:
g If lost, reassure kids by getting them involved in signaling for help
g Staying the night outdoors because you're lost? Set your priorities
g What to do when lost with children on a hike
g When you have no food but are lost overnight

Find out about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

How to survive getting caught in freak snowstorm on a hike

Getting stranded in a snowstorm means at best you’ll only have days to live unless soon rescued. Hypothermia, frostbite, lack of water due to it freezing and the inability to forage for food or to find tinder and branches to make a fire all make survival extremely difficult.

If you’ve planned your trip correctly, you shouldn’t be in the wilds when a snowstorm is forecast. Mountain weather is highly changeable, however, and it’s quite possible in late spring and early autumn for one to surprise you at a high elevation. As soon as you see any signs of clouding over, feel a significant drop in temperature, or notice high winds or snowflakes, immediately descend to a lower elevation.

If walking is no longer viable – snow can hide the trail and bring visibility to zero – immediately construct a shelter to diminish the effect of wind and wet snow. Huddle together for warmth. Do not eat snow as it will lower your core body temperature. Immediately call for help, and don’t send anyone for help as they easily can get lost in the snowstorm.

Read more about day hiking with children in my Hikes with Tykes guidebooks.

How to safely start a campfire in a hiking emergency

A fire is central to keeping warm, cooking meals and feeling safe. When day hiking, only build a fire if necessary, however. They can pose a great danger to children and the surrounding environment.

You’ll first need to select a spot to build the fire. Begin by look for an existing fire ring. If there isn’t one (and even if there is), select a spot protected from the wind as the breeze can carry sparks from the fire. Given this, be sure that the campfire is built several feet away and down-wind from your shelter. Also, don’t build underneath a tree, as you don’t want limbs or the roots to catch fire.

Children of all ages can help you collect the tinder, twigs and branches as they are small enough for them to carry. They’ll have the best luck finding dry wood inside hollow stumps or near a tree trunks’ base. Wet bark can be shaved away from dry wood and then further cut into tinder. As gathering your wood, separate it into piles by size. Keep the branches and dry brush away from the fire ring. You also may need to collect rocks for the fire pit.

Building a campfire
Presuming there isn’t a prebuilt fire ring, clear a circle of ground and place rocks at its edges. Rocks larger than your fists are best, but avoid using wet stones, especially those from a riverbed, as they can explode when heated. If you can’t find any rocks, dig a trench.

Once a fire ring is made, place tinder in a small pile at its center. Tinder is the building block of your fire and can be anything that quickly ignites, such as dry grass, pine needles, paper, bark and twigs. Build a small teepee of pencil-length twigs around and over the tinder. Leave a space on one side of the teepee so you can reach the tinder with your hand.

Now make another teepee, using longer and thicker sticks, but of no more than an inch thick, over the first teepee, again leaving a space in the side so you can reach your hand in. Stack a small ring of at least fist-sized stones around the teepee; this later will keep the fire from spreading to the surrounding ground and can be used as a place to stick a pot to boil water.

 Remember those waterproof matches in a waterproof container and the small candle we discussed earlier? Take them out. Light the candle and place the candle beneath the tinder. This is the easiest wait to light a fire – there’s no rubbing sticks together or holding magnifying glasses as shown on cable television survival shows. When the top teepee collapses in flame, you’ve got a good fire started and can add gradually larger branches to keep it going. As you don’t want to get too large of a fire going – they can be difficult to control – keep the branches smaller than your firearm.

While kids can help build the fire ring and teepees, only an adult should start the fire. In addition, never leave a fire unattended.

Douse bucket
Keep a bucket of water nearby, too. As you’re lost, you probably don’t have a bucket, so designate one of the canteens you’ve carried as the douse bucket. Don’t use good drinking water you’ve carried in or water you’ve purified with tablets to douse the fire. Instead, carefully empty into another canteen water from the canteen that’ll serve as a douse bucket. Then fill your douse canteen with local water from a stream, pond or puddle.

Don’t dry anything around the fire. You’ll find nylon melting, leather cracking, and wool burning. Instead, dry boots in the shade (and never over a campfire) by putting them upside down on a stick that you’ve pushed into the ground. Dry other equipment in the sun and wind.

When you hike out of the area the following morning or are rescued, extinguish the fire completely, dousing it in water, spreading out the coals, and smothering the burning branches and ashes with sand or dirt free of twigs and leaves. Pour on more water until each cinder is extinguished. Don’t drench hot rocks with cold water, though, as the temperature change can cause an explosion. Before leaving, check the fire again to make sure nothing is burning. The pit should be cold to the touch. All of this may take a half-hour or more.

Read more about day hiking with children in my Hikes with Tykes guidebooks.

What to do if you're lost on a hike with kids

If lost, don't panic. Simply stop walking and see if you
can determine your location and how to get back
to your trail.

Q: How do you know you’re lost?

A: When you don’t know where you are and you don’t know which way to go.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

You could be hiking along a trail and not be able to pinpoint on a map exactly where you are yet still be confident that you’re heading in the right direction simply because no other trails have branched off yours and because key landmarks are easily identifiable on the horizon.

Stop walking
As soon as you’re uncertain where you are and whether or not you’re heading in the right direction, stop walking. It’s time to figure out where you are.

As when searching for someone lost, don’t panic. It’s the greatest danger to anyone who is lost. Just take a rest stop and pull out your maps. Check the topo map and see if you can spot any obvious landmarks. These could include prominent peaks, roads, water towers, power lines or waterways.

If you can’t locate an obvious landmark, consider tracing your way back to the last spot you checked your map and knew you were going in the right direction. From there, either head in the correct direction or return to your vehicle before you get lost again.

Should you see other hikers, don’t hesitate to tell them you’re lost. They’ll probably be able to help you find your bearings. At the very least, they can take you to a trailhead and then hopefully back to your vehicle.

Locate main trail
If lost, you’re probably not too far away from your trail. Experienced hikers know the odds are good that they can get back to the trail.

As Melissa F., of Moab, Utah, advises: “Estimate how much time has passed since you last knew where you were, then estimate how far you probably can walk in that amount of time. If you cover a mile every half hour, and 15 minutes have passed since you last saw a landmark that you knew was on your trail, at worse you’re only a half-mile off course. By knowing the compass direction of a landmark you can identify, you can estimate which direction the trail is.”

Fair warning, though: It’s probably not a good idea to go back to the trail but best to stay where you are and take comfort in knowing that you’ll be fairly easy for rescuers to find. If you keep walking in the wrong direction, you likely will increase the time rescuers need to locate you.

Should you rescue yourself while a search operation is underway, be sure to let a park ranger or the authorities know. There’s no need to continue the search once you’re safe. Such operations are expensive and you may needlessly be draining manpower and resources away from another rescue.

Read more about day hiking with children in my Hikes with Tykes guidebooks.

Carry cell phone, FRS device when hiking

Carry a cell phone when on a day hike but don't always expect service.

When heading out on a trail in the wilds, even for a day hike, sometimes you can start to feel isolated. With no one else around and many miles away from civilization by road, this can be an unsettling feeling to say the least.

Fortunately, with technology you don’t have to feel so cut off.

When on a day hike, always bring a cell phone. Teach your children how to use 911 in case of an emergency, and make sure the batteries are fully charged. Be advised, though, that phone service can be spotty at best in the wilds.

A good back up is FRS – or Family Radio Station – which is a portable two-way walkie-talkie. Have at least two FRS devices in the party. A number of public agencies, especially in remote areas with a lot of hikers, monitor Channel 9 for emergencies.

Keep the cell phone and FRS devices in an easy to reach spot in your backpack. The top of the backpack or a special side pocket work well. It’s a good idea if bringing both a cell phone and FRS device to have different people carry them; should one person’s backpack by lost (such as swept away in a flash flood), you’ll then still have a way to call for help.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

Pack small tarpaulin in case of emergencies

If stuck out in the wilds, a tarp can be used to construct an
emergency shelter. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

When your kids are old enough that you’ve traded the baby carrier for a backpack, you may want to consider carrying a small tarpaulin with you.

These can be useful when building an emergency shelter. They also can provide a barrier between a child and the ground should first aid have to be given or if a bed must be made because an emergency forces you to stay the night.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

What to do if a tornado occurs during hike

Photo courtesy NOAA.

Tornadoes form quickly, usually in areas about to experience severe thunderstorms. By leaving an area to avoid a thunderstorm - something you always should do when hiking with kids - you should be able to avoid a tornado.

If one is approaching you, seek shelter in a ravine or a cave. If on flat ground, find the lowest depression or ditch possible.

And never make this mistake, as Josh S., of San Antonio, Texas, advises: “Don’t seek shelter beneath concrete bridges of highway underpasses. The underpass can act as a wind tunnel during a tornado. Debris will fly right at you at super-high speeds”

Related articles:
g If lost, reassure kids by getting them involved in signaling for help
g Staying the night outdoors because you're lost? Set your priorities
g What to do when lost with children on a hike
g When you have no food but are lost overnight

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

Article by 'Hikes' author in Seattle B.M.

My article "Family Hiking Tips: Lost Kids and Search Strategies" appeared in Wednesday's Seattle Backpacker Magazine, an online magazine dedicated to backpacking. The article lists tips for preventing children from getting lost on hikes and what to do should they wander off and can't be found.

Read more about hiking navigation in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

What to do when lost with kids on a day hike

If lost, stop walking and get your bearings. Photo courtesy of Lyn Baxter/
Dreamstime Stock Photos

First rule of being
lost: Don't panic 

How do you know you’re lost? When you don’t know where you are and you don’t know which way to go. The two are not mutually exclusive. You could be hiking along a trail and not be able to pinpoint on a map exactly where you are yet still be confident that you’re heading in the right direction simply because no other trails have branched off yours and because key landmarks are easily identifiable on the horizon.

As soon as you’re uncertain where you are and whether or not you’re heading in the right direction, though, stop walking. You must do this not just for your safety for those of any children with you. They are more vulnerable to the elements than you as an adult, and you so you must minimize your distance from a point where you know your location or from where others might quickly find you.

Reassure children
For children, you being lost can be a very difficult experience to grasp. They will sense your nervousness and feel it, too. They probably have confidence in you as an adult to resolve the problem, but soon basic issues they have – from being hungry and thirsty to being cold and afraid – will overtake them. Their verbalized fears and potential crying can compound your nervousness and fear. You’ll want to keep them calm and reassure them that all will be okay. That’s vital for your own ability to swiftly find your way.

Indeed, the first rule of being lost is don’t panic. It’s the greatest danger as it can lead to poor decision-making. Just take a rest stop and pull out your maps. Check the topo map and see if you can spot any obvious landmarks. These could include prominent peaks, roads, water towers, power lines or waterways.

If you can’t locate an obvious landmark, consider tracing your way back to the last spot you checked your map and knew you were going in the right direction. This is called backtracking.

If lost, you’re probably not too far away from your trail. Experienced hikers know the odds are good that they can get back to the right trail.

Ask for help
As parent Melissa F., of Moab, Utah, advises, “Estimate how much time has passed since you last knew where you were, then estimate how far you probably can walk in that amount of time. If you cover a mile every half hour, and 15 minutes have passed since you last saw a landmark that you knew was on your trail, at worse you’re only a half-mile off course. By knowing the compass direction of a landmark you can identify, you can estimate which direction the trail is.”

Fair warning, though: It’s probably not a good idea to try to find your trail but best to stay where you are and take comfort in knowing that you’ll be fairly easy for rescuers to find. If you keep walking in the wrong direction, you likely will increase the time rescuers need to locate you.

Should you see other hikers, don’t hesitate to tell them you’re lost. They’ll probably be able to help you find your bearings. At the very least, they can take you to a trailhead and then hopefully back to your vehicle.

Should you rescue yourself while a search operation is underway, be sure to let a park ranger or the authorities know. There’s no need to continue the search once you’re safe. Such operations are expensive, and you may needlessly be draining manpower and resources away from another rescue.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

Carry safety whistle when hiking with kids

Image courtesy of Robert Cochrane
 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A safety whistle is a very useful tool during emergencies. Its sound will carry farther than a shout, so you’ll be easier to locate if lost. A whistle also can be used to communicate with others in your party if they are lost, rush too far ahead, or fall too far behind. It also can be used to scare away some potentially dangerous animals.

Carry them around your neck or in an easy to reach pocket so you do not have to dig for them in an emergency. Each child able to use a whistle should carry one.

Related articles:
g Carry wet wipes during day hike with children
g Select right sunglasses for hiking children
g Pack waterproof bags on day hike with children

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.