Splash

Roger that. Go Carl.

Northernmedic

Biggest advise I could give here is to know precisely where you are. You would be amazed at how many times I get called out to do a medivac and the people have no clue as to where they are at. Know the landmarks, practice orientating yourself to them and GPS can be a life saver. I'm not talking about t "Tom Tom" here but a real GPS that displays latittude and longitude. An no, For the last time, I can't get that POS Ford out!

mdantonio

Hi! A couple of these guys were on target with the GPS idea. Some "Emergencies" don't require / warrant a Medivac though. Most GPS units have a feature named "points of interest" and generally show hospitals, clinics, etc. If you bring that up and click "Go To" it will get you there. Best of all the only research you may need to do is verify it just prior to hitting the trail! Take care... Mike

Until2004

In this day and age of cell phones and satellite phones and emergency beacons, most emergency sevices still monitor CB channel 9. If you have even an older magellan or garmin gps that can tell you your location, you can usally get contact and give your location. Neither of these items is very expensive and they are usually pretty reliable. Of course, never wheeling alone goes a long ways too.

jeff@zina.com

Too bad I don't live near my old wheeling buddy. He's an (ex) Special Forces medic and ALS certified who crewed a SAR chopper for 15 years.

Fortunately, the worst I usually injure myself is handled by a simple first aid kit. Though I do carry, and on my doctor's recommendation, a roll of duct tape. So does my doctor when he's in the wilderness.

But the point is good. I'm not sure how I'd get out in a bad accident. There would be others with me, but I don't relish a bumpy ride back with a compound fracture. Even with an air splint. And for all I know, we'd exit the way we came in, 70 miles from a medical center, when a major trauma center was just over the next ridge.

Jeff

Jeep Mama

we weren't wheeling but camping and our little one got a bottle of prescription medicine open while we were packing up the tent. We had no idea if he ingested any of the pills.

We were lucky the park we were camping at had directions to the nearest hospital - though in the end we knew where it was anyway.

When you are in a panic, it is hard to stay calm - so knowing in advance is good advice. And for the parents out there, knowing the number of Poison Control is good to have seared in your brain - 800-222-1222

BTW - after being monitored for a few hours, he was fine - he probably never put any of the pills in his mouth.

scouter4life

[quote=codybill_1;723477] I work for a wireless company and if you don't have a cell signal, then you can't call, but it is true that any phone whether disconnected or not will still call 911. We tell customers to not get rid of old phones, throw them in the glove box turned off in case of an emergency as long as you have a signal, you can call 911, just remeber to charge it up once in a while.

14erguy

I was thinking along a similar line recently, I was watching all of the 'I shouldn't be alive' series and realized, if these people had just left a note of exactly where they were going, or had some form of communication, almost every one of their problems would be avoided.

Myself, I plan to pick up one of the new SPOT gps/pager devices where I can request help or emergency services if needed. For a small yearly fee, I plan on getting one for my girlfriend as well. I figure we'll just keep each in the car and can use it if we break down in the mountains, get stuck in the snow, whatever.

http://www.findmespot.com/Home.aspx

Also, since she worries about me when I go out climbing, this way she can see where I am and I can check-in even if I don't have cell coverage.

I can't vouch for how well it works, but I think every jeeper should have one of these.

ProphetMan

Word in REI-land (at least from my customers) is that it works great for what it is, it is def. not an ACR, but those are really only better for hardcore backcountry/mountians/snow storms on mt. hood. And the other thing is you can get it a month at a time, so if you only wheel in the summer, you can just buy the summer months!

dad55551

Not to be an ass, but if you were in a situation and hurt yourself so badly you can't drive walk or crawl back to a labeled road EMS wont have much to do when they get there .
Point is, when your offroading always be prepared, bring another vehicle, and know what to do in a accident.

That being said, offroading is one of the safest "outdoor" hobbies so odds of something happening are pretty slim