As an EMT one of the gut wrenching calls was responding to an area with someone most likely critically injured and you don’t know exactly where they are. You want to provide the care they need but time and manpower is being wasted because the exact location is not known. In my early days as an EMT in rural Western Massachusetts this most often involved motor vehicle accidents and cell phones were not as prevalent as they are today. 911 would get the call and dispatch us to an area around mile marker such and such. Most of the time we realized these were not often accurate and if we were lucky only a mile or two off. With mountainous terrain locating a vehicle off the road and down the embankment was challenging at times.
Well think about for a moment your favorite place to deer hunt does it have a street number if you need help? Or is it more likely you have to describe the area “ I’m on the River Road about 3 miles south of the intersection with Birch Rd and River Rd.” That may get them to your truck but if you’re a mile in the woods to your stand how do you describe the way in if you need help. Add to it the stress of the situation and any impairment the illness or injury may have caused. Here’s a little exercise try to tell someone how to get to your deer stand preferably someone who has never been there before. Not as easy as you might think. As hunters we like to keep our honey holes to ourselves but it’s important that we make sure somebody knows how to find us if we need help. So here is my plan for where I hunt;
· Get a cell phone that works in the area you hunt
· Make sure a few people know how to get to your stands
· When you hunt make sure someone knows your hunting and when they should expect to hear from you.
· Develop directions on how to get to where you hunt and practice verbalizing them.
Maps, GPS coordinates, how to use a compass, are other skills you may want to consider and will be topics we cover out here at some point. A fairly new product on the market is SPOT I have no experience with this device but from what I hear about it, friends & family can track your whereabouts, you can send out a text message as well as an emergency call. Sounds kind of like an advanced emergency beacon that I’m sure if you got into trouble it would more then pay for itself.
We often love to hunt to get “lost” and escape the everyday world we face but lets make sure we can be found if something should really happen.
