SPOT Tracker / Rescue Kit

I would like your help in identifying the components needed in a rescue kit intended for a non- life threatening emergency.

Our Scout troop is preparing for a 2 week hike in a national park next summer. We bought a SPOT tracker to send on the prep hikes that are occuring monthly until then. Eventually the SPOT tracker will be used on the 2 week outing. Only adult leaders will have access to the SPOT.

The SPOT unit provides an ability to send check-in notices via satellite to email/SMS cell phone addresses. It will also allow tracking of our hike, with automatic position reports every 10 minutes or so.

There is also the ability to send 2 types of distress messages. The '911' message alerts SAR. I have added labels to the device indicating that the 911 button is to be used ONLY in the case of a life threatening emergency. Pressing the 911 button will bring professional rescuers in a 'relatively' short period. However, rescuers may put themselves at risk to provide the assistance, and invoking SAR may have financial implications. We don't want the Scouters using this casually.

There is another button which sends a HELP notification to a pre-selected list of email and Cell phone SMS message addresses. This area is open to interpretation of the user, and is the subject of my post.

Before every hike, a hiking plan is to be sent to the notification group. When a HELP request is sent, a group of local (adult) Scouters will make contact with the hiking group using the coordinates provided by the tracker. Since the tracker only provides an alert (no text description of the type of problem) the support group will have no indication of the issue encountered.

The problem may be as simple as one member being ill or slightly injured and needing to be transported off the trail. If the group is mobile, they will be instructed to repeat the HELP request as they move toward their intended take-out location. If the group is immobile, they will be instructed to repeat the HELP request multiple times from the same location. Depending on the location of the group, it might take many hours or a day to reach their location from the nearest takeout point.

What we need to do is to assemble an all-purpose rescue kit that would suffice to address a less-than-life-threatening emergency. Since this is a Scout group, we have to consider the possibility that the emergency involves some unrelated person or group the Scouts found while on their hike.

In addition to personal gear (pack/tent/sleeping bag/food/water/knife/personal FAK) we will need to identify any additional gear that could be useful in an unspecified emergency. Some things that come to mind are:
- ropes/harnesses/pulleys to be used for raising a stranded / fallen hiker.
- extra water
- advanced first aid kit
- fabric stretcher to transport a hiker

What else should we include? We need to consider weight, since we will have to hike in and out with whatever we bring. The hikers will already have their personal gear, but it is possible that some key piece of gear has been lost, food taken by a bear, etc.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Hello Scoutdoors,

Please forgive this very lengthy post.

As a former Scout (30 years ago). I want to say thank you for showing an interest in teaching the young people of today.

You mentioned in your post that, "Our Scout troop is preparing for a 2 week hike in a national park next summer." What area of the country will you be in? What is the terrain like? This will help in pointing you in a given direction.

From now until them concentrate heavily "teaching the scouts" First aid, Lifesaving, Cooking, Wilderness Survival, Orientering, Woodmanship, Pioneering, Camping, Signaling. These were also merit badges in "my time" is this still the case? As an example, If you have 3 patrols have one teach "Cooking" to the rest of the troop, have one patrol teach "Signaling" to the rest of the troop, have one patrol teach "Pioneering" to the rest of the troop. Then each patrol rotates so that if the one patrol that taught "Pioneering" last will now teach "Signaling" and so on and so forth. Make sure to include you Leadership Corps, any and all Assistant Scoutmasters, Senior Patrol Leader and any Chaparons who will accompany the troop. Do not forget to plan many organized camping trips between now an then, reinforcing to the scouts what they are teaching each other in scout meetings. Remember the scout motto, "BE PREPARED". Prepardness is not just about acquiring items it also includes the Body, Mind and Spirit.

As far as a "fabric stretcher to transport a hiker". An old trick we were taught if we were in a "wooded area"
1) cut 2 sturdy saplings and remove all of the branches.
2) have scout #1 hold one pole in each hand
3) have scout #2 stand between the poles and in front
of scout #1
4) scout #2 will the grab hold of the hem of scout #1's shirt
pulling it onto the poles.
5) scout #2 the goes to opposite end of the poles and holds
one pole in each hand.
6) scout #1 will the grab hold of the hem of scout #2's shirt
pulling it onto the poles.
You now have one improvised stretcher. As a further note any number of shirts can be place onto the pole in this fashion depending on the strength of material you need. The key word here is "IMPROVISE". Perhaps hiking staves or poles could be used, several can be "LASHED" together to make the whole thing stronger.

As far as "extra water" are you hiking in an area that contains sources of water (lakes, streams, rivers, etc...)?
You need to have a way to purify or filter the water to make it safe for drinking. YOU DEFINATELY DO NOT WANT TO DRINK UNTREATED WATER ON THIS TRIP YOU ARE PLANNING. The "little beasties" that WILL HATCH, GROW, REPRODUCE and THRIVE in your stomach and intenstines will not be fun.

As far as "some key piece of gear has been lost". All scouts should be given a list of things that each one on them must carry (THE TEN ESSENTIALS). If you are taking let's say three "backpacking" style stoves, then three partol leaders or chaparons or "whoever" will carry a maintenance kit for their patrol's stove. Pick one person from each patrol to carry the bottle or two of "extra fuel" for their patrol's stove. And so on and so forth. Remember, this is a "team effort".

As far as "food taken by a bear". Is it possible to have a preset cache in the park you will be attending. If not, could a responsible adult be notified to meet you at a predestined location and time for re-supply? Or would there be a possibility of resupply from a Ranger's station (basically ship supplies to the Ranger's station)? You would need to discuss that with the Ranger's Station in question "FIRST". Also, talk with the Ranger's from the National Park in question, they are an invaluable source of information of what you might need in particular for that National Park.

Another idea for you, is to communicate with another troop in your council and hit their leaders up for and advice and thoughts that they might have concerning your trip.

Also, activities (or playtime)in the evening really help keep scouts occupied. The troop that I belonged to all of us would take frisbees in our pack along with the standard mess kit of the time. Frisbees... you can eat out of them, shave out of them, dig with them, and anything else that you can think of, and not to forget a good old fashioned game of "frisbee football"

I hope I haven't rambled on too much... Good Luck with your trip...

One last and final idea.... Survivorman Night...
How about acquiring or renting episodes of Survivorman season 1 on DVD and have the Patrol Leaders over to spend the night and practice a skill or two in backyard that Les Stroud demonstrates in the particular episode or episodes you watched that night.

First off welcome to the forum both scout doors and javelin5. There will be a lot of suggestions from people more qualified at rescue than my self, but the idea behind the hike is to have fun, and to teach your scout about the outdoors. Have fun on your hike, with the SPOT you are way more prepared than 99% of the people who head for the hills. Take the normal precautions and teach the scouts how to enjoy there surroundings. Javelin5’s suggestion of brushing up on survival skills is a great idea you can also develop ideas to improvise ways of using your normal equipment on hand to address matters of transport and lifting injured hikers. Since you have multiple extraction sites then I would have my master kit with a larger FAK and heavier equipment in a vehicle designated to respond to your SPOT. If the situation requires special equipment then calling SAR would probably be in your best interest anyway. If you start trying to carry everything for every contingency there will be so much weight that if you can carry the load you and those designated to help you will be miserable and you will not accomplish your main goal of having a good time.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Many of them contribute to preventing a situation where outside help would be needed. This seems the best approach to emergency situations -- don't get in them in the first place.

What I was looking for was suggestions in assembling a kit to provide to a support crew, who might be called upon to respond to a HELP request. If the hiking group incurs an injury, loses an important trip component, or happens upon a hiker in need of assistance, they might request external help. Those responding to a request for help would need to have a 'Rescue Kit' with them to deal with whatever issues they might encounter when they reach the group.

When the Scouts hiked at Philmont two years ago, there was a backup system in place. The Philmont Scout Ranch provides checkpoint camps throughout the facility, so a group was never more than a day from access to help. This might not be so in a place like Yosimite or Yellowstone.

I am expecting the Scouters to use the '911' function of SPOT to contact SAR if they have a life-threatening issue. What I am trying to assemble (with your assistance) is a gear package for responders to a HELP request. Then they can help with whatever happens on the trail that might be less than life threatening, but will require someone to be helped or taken off of the trail.

Thanks again for your input.

For those not familiar with SPoT, the website is http://www.findmespot.com/.

Ugh... OK, first off, may I ask your experience in BSA? Many of these concerns, while valid, fall way outside of Scouting, IMHO. I was in scouts 10 years, Eagle, etc. Not once did we ever have a "rescue group," for better or worse.

If someone was sick, two of us would walk the person out (the buddy rule). If someone was injured, they'd walk out. If they couldn't walk, then 2 of the older scouts went to the nearest ranger station/waypoint and obtained their assistance. Calling for assistance is NOT the same as a SAR response. I don't think there's any good reason that Scouters should be exposed to the risks of self-rescue. Getting trained in high-angle rescue, carrying 150 lbs. 20 miles the the car, etc, is VERY dangerous work, as well as strenuous. Looking at the adults in my troop, half would have probably had heart attacks trying to help. A bunch of middle-age dads isn't necessarily the best group to consider.

As for other concerns, it does matter where you are. Eg, in Yosemite, there's usually quite a bit of water. Have each kid with 2-3 quarts, and fill up every night, you'll be fine. My longest hike of 10 days had no problem. Maybe places also have some sort of provision for cacheing supplies, or having a supply train meet you. Look into that for your group. Bears? ha... hang your food, or buy some bear canisters:
http://www.rei.com/product/709075
You can fit 2-3 days worth of food for about 8 people in one. they also have cases so you can lash it to the outside of a pack. Don't forget, other critters will eat your stuff, like raccoons.

I wouldn't do any first aid other than what's taught by ARC - you do anything more, you start risking "medicine without a license" problems, unless the person is trained in that. Like, don't bring an IV unless you're a medic, nurse, or doctor. Maybe a few people taking wilderness first aid is a good idea.

You also need to consider the legal, and possible PR, aspects of this idea. If something goes wrong, the entire troop and the adults will be reamed for doing the wrong thing (hindsight is, after all, 20:20). And possible sued. Or jailed.

The last thing is, that the first thing professional rescuers are taught is to NOT BECOME A VICTIM. I advise your rescue group to consider this law when planning their intentions.

http://www.equipped.org/SPOT_ORSummer2007.htm

It sounds like I should refine my question further.

The hiking group has conducted 3-4 day prep hikes every month since July, and will continue to do so until the trip next summer. Standard precautions such as bear-bagging food and filtering water are part of the process on each hike. The group includes Scouters with many years of hiking and scouting experience, who are physically prepared for the trek. Some of the Scouters completed a 2 week hike at the Philmont Scout Ranch 2 years ago. At least 2 Scouters on the trek have completed or will complete Wilderness First Aid training.

The support group consists of other Scouters with similar backgrounds. There are former members of the military, a nurse, a cope (ropes course) instructor, experienced hikers that have completed two prior Philmont trips, and other experienced outdoor types. At least 3 Scouters have completed Wilderness First Aid training.

The purpose of the support group is not to administer IV's or perform the types of high angle rescue that require SAR level training. The '911' button on the SPOT will be used to bring SAR assistance if necessary. But invoking SAR may have financial and other implications, and would only be used in a life-threatening emergency.

The idea is to provide a fallback when the group is too far from the trailhead, or the ranger station to just walk out on their own. The most typical use I see would be to summon transportation for an ill or injured hiker that needs to get off of the trail. However, there are other possibilities, and this post is an attempt to Be Prepared.

I don't see any legal implications in meeting my group part way through their hike to help transport an injured hiker. If a hiker has become stranded and needs a rope/harness to return to the group, I don't think this crosses the line into high angle rescue. Nor am I concerned about being sued for bringing a rope and pully system to aid the group across a traverse in which the existing structure is damaged or unsafe (and there is no other reasonable means of going around). Bringing additional first aid gear to address heat exhaustion, splints for broken or fractured limbs, and a compact purpose-built stretcher to transport an injured hiker seem reasonable.

Prior to SPOT, the standard practice would be to self-rescue for any less-than-life-threatening situation. Any of the items mentioned so far might reasonably be carried on a hike, and used by the group in the normal process of hiking.

Self rescue might including sending a subset of the group with the injured party to a trailhead or ranger station. That would effectively end the hike for those who accompanied the injured party, and might involve several days transport if the group was out in the back country.

The intent here is not to pretend to be SAR, or a triage physician, or a high-angle rescue specialist. The 911 feature covers this. The idea is to provide a reasonably prepared response to a request for help from your group for a situation that is not life threatening.

Thanks for your input.

The range of possibilities that the people receiving the “Help” request could respond to is far too vast to create a list of equipment that they should be responding with. In my opinion, the issue of a “Help” request should be interpreted as a “request to initiate communications”.

Normally, if you run into a non-life threatening bind, the first thing you would do is to pull out your mobile phone and try to call someone who could offer assistance. Of course, there is a good chance that your mobile phone will not work, so you fail over to another communication method (satellite phone, GMRS/FRS, HAM, etc.). The SPOT “Help” request should be used when these previous attempts at communication fail. It should indicate that you have no way of initiating communications with someone who can help and the outside party receiving the request should contact someone in charge who could then initiate communication with the scout group themselves.

For example, say you take along both your mobile phone and a GMRS/FRS radio for communications purposes. You run into a situation like being low on water, or no one can find their car keys, or whatever. You try your phone… no signal. You try your radio… no one responds. You then pop the SPOT “Help” request out and the receiving party receives it. The receiving party then activates the plan you left with them that says, “Contact the park ranger and have him try to reach us over our GMRS/FRS radio or meet us at our position. We will be monitoring GMRS/FRS channel ## (or frequency ###.##) for the first 10 minutes of every hour.”

This way, the communications you establish will dictate how to respond to your situation, whether you just need a couple bottles of water, or just need the Auto Club called to jimmy your door.

I read your post at least twice, and it seems to me that you are definitely concerned with the cost potentially involved in "invoking SAR." I don't now why, as there is typically no such cost, especially in National Parks. There is a provision in NPS regulations that provides for charging for rescue operations - this provision is invoked only in cases of incredible, Darwin Award-like activity (usually the individuals have violated safety closures, or left an apple pie on their table in grizzly country, or something similar). Your group is a long way from that situation.

Which National Park will you be hiking in? Although the expertize in SAR varies from Park to Park, usually depending upon the environment and demand, nearly all, if not all, of the larger National Parks have rescue teams that are highly competent. Yosemite and Grand Canyon would be mentioned any time you are trying to determine the most such competent group in the country. Many, if not most, local jurisdictions have highly competent operations, with the particular advantage that they are fully aware of local terrain and conditions, something your support group may lack. This is an extremely important factor in SAR operations.

Anytime you are breaking out ropes for high angle rescue, you need an experienced, practiced team. Actually, the same is true of stretcher carries in the back country. Even if you are using a wheeled stretcher (a Stokes or something equivalent), carryout can be exhausting and difficult, exposing both the victim and the rescuers to injury and complications. The best use for an improvised stretcher is for a short (quarter mile or so) carry to a helispot. Carry out for any distance measured in miles will be very long and tough, unless your victim is exceptionally light. This never happens. The victim is always the heaviest member of the group (a corollary of Murphy's Law). The time involved in implementing makeshift measures often triggers a cascade of circumstances which can quickly turn a routine boo boo into a life threatening emergency

The equipment you carry should be commensurate with the knowledge and skills of the group members. If your leaders are skilled at high angle rescue, they know what they will bring. Gadgets and toys without the experience and skill to use them are just burdensome extra weight, as a previous poster has adroitly pointed out. Good SAR gear is heavy.

You are obviously thinking carefully about this trip. If only more National Park visitors did the same. I take it for granted that your group has decent first aid skills. You would seem to have communications covered. Apply them if necessary. Practice prevention and avoid unreasonable risks. Have fun and if SHTF, don't worry about finances. There are far more important considerations, like saving lives and minimizing suffering.

Hey, that's a good idea!

-Blast

I think for the most part, I would agree on the responses you have received to date on potential significant rescue/medical issues, so I think I will try and give you some ideas (although you have covered several yourself already) on what I would suggest your backup responders might have with them when meeting you to take care of moderate issues.

Water and food
Cooking Set/stove and fuel
First Aid supplies to backfill what you may have used during the trip to date
Extra blankets and/or seeping bags
Tarps
Rope/cordage/paracord
Lighting devices: flashlights, lanterns, batteries and/or fuel, strobes
Matches, lighters, dry kindling, fire starters
Duct tape
Hiking poles/staffs
Cell phones, additional radios
Various sized or backup clothing
Jackets/coats/sweaters

The thread linked below illustrates my concern regarding the financial consequences of a SAR effort that might be invoked by my Scouts:

Found, rescued and billed $15,000

My concern is the gray area between "We intentionally incurred unreasonable risks" and "We made a really dumb mistake and need help".

Given the possibility of a $15,000 charge for going off trail and then getting injured, I have directed my hiking crew to use the '911' feature only in a life-threatening situation. That leaves the responsibility of responding to a 'HELP' situation to the support team.