Learn essential emergency and survival skills for Scouts and outdoor adventures, including first aid, signalling, getting lost, shelters, emergency planning and calling for help.
There’s a useful difference between walking a route someone else has marked and being able to mark a route for somebody to follow. The second takes a little more thought. You need to decide where a marker belongs, make its meaning clear and check that the next person can follow it without having to guess….
Knowing how to take a pulse is a useful skill to have outdoors. If someone feels unwell during a walk, struggles during a strenuous climb or needs a moment to recover after exertion, being able to measure a heart rate gives you another piece of information about how they’re doing. It’s also a straightforward way…
A 3×3 metre tarp is one of the most useful pieces of shelter kit you can carry outdoors. With the right pitch, the same square of fabric can become an open shelter, a weather-resistant sleeping space, a cooking area or a compact shelter for one or more people. The catch is that the tarp doesn’t…
Knowing when to ask for help is an important outdoor skill, but it is one that can easily be overlooked. When you’re exploring somewhere new, something doesn’t feel right or you simply don’t know what to do, speaking up can make a situation much easier to deal with. Asking for help isn’t a sign that…
If someone injures their leg while you’re outdoors, getting them back to safety can become a real problem, particularly if you’re some distance from a road or other help. In a minor injury, a temporary walking aid can sometimes make moving around easier. If the injury could be a fracture or is otherwise serious, however,…
A column of smoke can be visible from much further away than a person, particularly in open countryside where there are few other sources of smoke. In an emergency, a controlled smoke signal can therefore be useful for attracting the attention of rescuers or other people who may be able to help. Smoke signalling is…
If you are somewhere with a mobile signal but cannot make a voice call to the emergency services, the UK’s Emergency SMS service can provide another way to contact 999. It can be particularly useful for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech impairment, but it can also provide an alternative…
Sprains and strains are common outdoor injuries. A slip on a muddy path, an awkward landing, a twisted ankle or simply pushing a muscle too hard can leave someone in pain and unable to carry on normally. A sprain affects a ligament, which is the strong tissue connecting bones around a joint. A strain affects…
The recovery position is used when someone is unconscious or has a reduced level of responsiveness but is breathing normally. Placing them on their side can help keep their airway open and allows fluids such as saliva or vomit to drain away rather than blocking the airway. It is a useful first-aid skill to know,…
CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is an emergency first-aid skill used when someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally. It helps keep blood moving around the body while you wait for professional medical help to arrive. Emergency Disclaimer This article is for general first-aid education and is not a substitute for recognised practical first-aid training or…
