I just read a news article this morning about how a Canadian father and his 14-year-old daughter found themselves in a wilderness survival situation this past weekend after getting lost while skiing in British Columbia. I regularly read such accounts because I believe that they offer us good lessons about what to do in a such an emergency, but, just as importantly, what not to do. In this situation, what caught my interest was this pair’s focus on making a shelter instead of making a fire as many of us may have been inclined to do. On Saturday during our most recent Wilderness Survival 101 course, I stressed to my clients that the most important survival skill that they should hone, at least in my personal view, is making an emergency shelter. This is different from many other survival programs which stress making a fire. Now, don’t misunderstand me, I believe that fire […]
Read more →After spending forty-eight days on the run after gunning down two Pennsylvania State Troopers, Eric Frein, an apparent “expert survivalist,” was finally arrested by U.S. Marshalls on October 30 at an abandoned airplane hanger in northeastern Pennsylvania. Since then, law enforcement and media alike have been working hard to determine how Frein not only committed the crime, but how he was able to remain on the run for so long. In as much, I continued to be interviewed this week by various journalists from such news organizations as The Morning Call, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and CNN who asked for some insight into Frein’s survival abilities. In fact, on Thursday, I was privileged to be interviewed live by CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin on her show Newsroom. You can watch it for yourself as part of her report, “100+ Items Found at Frein’s Hideout.” You can also read the transcript: BALDWIN: If you do not need a passport to access […]
Read more →Going into it’s eleventh day, the manhunt continues for Eric Frein, the self-styled survivalist who ambushed two Pennsylvania State Troopers, killing one and injuring another, then apparently slipped into the mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania to escape. In addition to the swarm of state and federal law enforcement officers intensely searching for Frein, there is a swarm of media in the vicinity intensely searching for any information that may help the general public better understand, not just the mind of this killer, but for how long he may be able to avoid arrest. As a result, my telephone has been repeatedly ringing almost everyday for a week as journalists from across the state and country ask for my “expert” opinion about the manhunt, in particular, what skills it takes a “survivalist” to successfully hide and evade. I detest the term survivalist. Before I explain, though, let me make two points clear, just as […]
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True North is very pleased to announce that it was featured yesterday in a two part story on KDKA News. After spending two days with reporter, David Highfield, and cameraman, Ian Smith, a few weeks ago (about which you can read in a previous blog, “True North prepares for Television“), the story finally aired in a two part series. The first, during the 5:00 hour, showed David tagging along with a group of students during a “Basic Wilderness Survival” course as he learned about survival training. Then, in the second piece which aired at 11:00, David worked to demonstrate some of his new found skills … including starting a fire as it rained! Anyway, you can just watch for yourself by clicking on the following two links: 1. Teaser (that ran throughout the day leading up to broadcasts) 2. Broadcast (David’s article includes the two video links) Thank you, David and Ian, […]
Read more →Although removing a ring from a swollen finger may not appear like a relevant survival or first aid skill, it can actually be quite important. After all, if even one of your hands starts to become increasingly useless due to swelling and pain, then the odds of you being able to protect yourself, or others, in a wilderness survival situation diminishes steadily. So, while various removal techniques may not be glamorous enough to be featured on one of the popularly scripted “survival” shows, you may want to still consider listening up. The main issue is that there exists the real possibility of lasting damage to, or complete loss of, the finger due to the blockage of the blood flow to it. This could occur due to some trauma where the finger, hand, arm, or even some other part of the body is injured, such that swelling is a common physical […]
Read more →I thought that I would share with you an interesting idea that I just read while sitting on the couch at my EMS station. It comes from a book that that I have been reading, Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience, by Laurence Gonzales. In short, the book is about dealing with post-traumatic stress. Gonzales writes that when one is in the midst of a crisis, while it can seem that the pain and distress will go on forever, it isn’t true. Rather, pleasure, laughter, even peace and happiness almost always follow. In fact, he suggests that the waiting time in between can be sped up by following three simple steps: Do something that you love. Do something for someone who needs you. And be with people who care about you. His paragraph really struck me. It is something that I think that we can all agree is true, […]
Read more →You are out on a hike with a friend when you finally must concede that you are lost. Of course, you have been trying these last few hours to find the right trail, but the sun is beginning to set and it is starting to get cold. The prospect, then, of being forced to spend the night in the dark woods has you now more scared than you might otherwise have thought. But, wait, there is a ray of hope! You have a cell phone. You’ll just dial 9-1-1 and those EMS dispatchers will have a rescue team sent to your exact location in a jiffy. Right? The reality is … Maybe. A recent series of studies conducted by Find Me 911 indicates that EMS dispatchers can only trace a mobile telephone’s location only around 33% to 50% of the time. I don’t know about you, but I find the prospect […]
Read more →A family in Nevada, who had gotten themselves stranded in a remote area after an afternoon of sledding, were rescued after spending two days in sub-zero temperatures. While each member of the family needed to be treated in the hospital for dehydration and mild hypothermia, they were in otherwise great condition. Details have emerged since their rescue of how much their father did to improvise and adapt to their situation to keep everyone safe. To learn more about what he did, check out this video: Would you like to learn how you can better take care of yourself and others during a wilderness emergency? Then consider taking one of our upcoming wilderness survival or Wilderness First Aid (WFA) courses in 2014.
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Last Sunday, True North ran a training program for the folks at Venture Outdoors, a non-profit organization based in Pittsburgh whose mission is to make outdoor activities, like hiking, climbing, and paddling, more accessible to people of all ages and experience levels. As such, its staff and volunteer trip leaders need to know, not just how to run a smooth program, but how to deal with the unexpected. So last week’s program was designed to help them better prepare for outdoor medical emergencies. Today, we received a really nice thank you note from them: “Thank you for arranging a fantastic training for VO staff and volunteer leaders. The real-time emergency response with actual EMS made the scenario incredibly realistic. We look forward to setting up more outings with you in the future!“ But the simple truth is that this event wouldn’t have been such a success had it not been for […]
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