Learn essential skills for dealing with mountain and wilderness emergencies, including preparation, navigation, shelter, signalling, survival and getting help.
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 45–60 minutesLocation: Suitable indoor or outdoor training areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Emergency procedures, leadership, communication, headcounts, search planning, risk assessment A lost-person situation should be treated as an emergency that needs an organised response, not as an excuse for everyone to immediately spread out and search. The first priorities are…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Campsites, woodland, open countryside and suitable outdoor training areasBest for: Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Emergency communication, signalling, navigation, situational awareness and emergency planning Emergency signalling is about getting attention, communicating that you need help and making your location easier to find. The best method depends on…
⚠️ SAFETY FIRST Woodlands can look peaceful and familiar, but they are still natural environments with hazards that can change with the weather and season. Before heading out, consider the forecast, your route, daylight hours and the equipment you need. If you’re part of a Scout group or organised activity, follow your leader’s instructions and…
⚠️ SAFETY FIRST If you realise you’re lost, stop and tell someone if you can. Continuing to walk without knowing where you are can make the situation much worse. If you’re in immediate danger, injured, lost after dark or unable to find your way to safety, call 999 or 112 and ask for the appropriate…
Why Storm Safety Matters Storms are one of those hazards that can change an outdoor situation very quickly. A walk that started in sunshine can become cold, wet and windy. A campsite that seemed perfectly safe can suddenly be surrounded by falling branches. A stream that was easy to cross can become dangerously fast after…
What Are Survival Priorities? When something goes wrong outdoors, it can be tempting to start thinking about everything you might need. You need food. You need water. You need a fire. You need shelter. You need to find your way home. But trying to do everything at once can lead to poor decisions. Survival priorities…
Getting Lost Outdoors Most people don’t expect to get lost. You set off knowing roughly where you’re going. You follow a path. You take a turning. Then another. And suddenly the landscape doesn’t look quite right. Perhaps the path has disappeared. Maybe visibility has fallen. Your phone battery is running low. Or you’ve simply realised…
