On just about a daily basis you hear or read of someone getting lost in the woods or on a mountain climb. In most cases it's a child. Today I read of two children becoming lost while hiking with their father in a remote area in Oregon. Of course, it's easy to point fingers at poor ol dad for not keeping a closer eye on the children, but as we all know, stuff happens.
Which is entirely my point. If we know that stuff happens, why don't we take the precautions necessary to head off the "stuff happens" event. We all read the newspapers and web based news stories often enough to know how easy it is to get lost in the woods. I myself have been lost in the woods on two occasions in my lifetime, and believe me, it is not a fun adventure.
With today's technology, there should not be any excuses for losing your kids in the woods. Personal locator beacons can be costly and I certainaly don't expect everyone who decides to take their kids on a hike to throw out $500 to $1000.00 to purchase one for each child. If you look on the search engines, under "Locator Beacons" or "Child Tracking Devices", there are many inexpensive beacons that will attach to a backpack, fanny pack, or in a childs pocket that will keep a GPS position on the child in the event he or she gets lost. Two units that come to mind are the SPOT (Pic above) and the TracMe which both cost less than $150.00.
The other issue is the steps your child takes when they realize that they have become separated from their group. Before you start on your venture with a child, you need to lay down the ground rules.
- They need to be told to STOP when they become separated. It's natural to panic and start off in a "best guessed" direction. Along with the panic of being lost, the child will move in a direction at a high rate of speed in an effort to get back to the group before they are missed. In most cases, if the child had stayed, they would have only been 25-50 feet from the group.
- Place a whistle in their gear or pocket. A whistle will carry eight times further than the human voice. Instruct the child the blow the whistle until help arrives.
- If carrying a backpack or fanny pack, place a jacket or space blanket to keep them warm until they are found or in case they have to spend the night.
