How to leave a trip plan every time, run S.T.O.P. when something goes wrong, fix the most urgent need first, decide whether to stay put, and signal in 3s so searchers walk straight to you, in any climate.
Doctor's Note: If you have a heart or lung condition, diabetes, or take medicines that affect balance or alertness, talk to your doctor before a remote trip. A hands-on wilderness first aid course is the best way to learn cold and injury care; the IFRC asks anyone who lives in or visits remote places to know how to contact local rescue [1].
If you are lost or hurt right now and have signal, call your emergency number: 911 in the US and Canada [2], 999 or 112 in the UK [3], 000 in Australia, where 112 from a mobile also reaches Triple Zero [4]. Say where you started, your last known spot, and the colours you are wearing [2]. Then stay where you are [2].
Step 1: Leave a Trip Plan and Set a Turnaround Time
SKILL: You can leave a trip plan (route, companions, return time, when to call for help) with someone not coming, and set a turnaround time with daylight to spare.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Nobody starts searching until somebody knows you are missing. In a study of 3,287 people searched for in Oregon over 7 years, 93% to 95% were found alive, and a cut-off of 51 hours of search time captured about 99% of the survivors [6].
- Write the plan. Before every trip, text or write down for one person: the trailhead or start point, your route and any side trips, who is with you, what you are wearing and carrying, and your return time [2][8].
- Set the call time. Agree the exact time they should call for help if they have not heard from you, and the number to call. Write both into the message, so they do not have to decide under stress.
- Name the contact. The contact must be someone not on the trip [2]. A group chat where everyone is on the hike does not count.
- Set the turnaround time. Before you start, work out when the light goes and pick a time to turn back that gets you out before dark, allowing for a slower return when tired [3]. Write it in the plan.
- Keep it. Turn at that time even if the top or the lake is close. Change the route if the weather or the group's energy is worse than expected [3].
If you do not come back, help starts on time and looks in the right place, inside the window when most people are found alive [6].
Step 2: Do S.T.O.P. Before You Decide Anything
SKILL: You can stay calm when things go wrong with S.T.O.P. (Stop, Think, Observe, Plan): sit, drink, eat a snack and breathe out slowly for about 5 minutes before deciding.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Being lost is frightening, and fear changes how you think. In interviews and a review of more than 800 Nova Scotia lost-person reports, almost every lost person admitted to being badly upset [9]. Strong emotion scattered their thinking, and fear pushed them to move, often faster, rather than stay where they were [9]. Experienced outdoor people were not protected [9].
S.T.O.P. is the answer the US Forest Service teaches: as soon as you realise you may be lost, stop, stay calm and stay put, because panic is your greatest enemy [8]. The National Park Service puts it as "stop and breathe" and calmly assess [2]. Slow belly breathing lowered stress in all 3 studies of a small systematic review, though the evidence is low certainty [10].
- Stop. The moment you are unsure of the way, stop walking [8]. Sit on your pack, out of the wind if you can.
- Reset the body. Drink a few mouthfuls of water and eat a snack [7]. Then breathe slowly from the belly for about 5 minutes, letting each out-breath be slow [10].
- Think. Go back over how you got here. What landmarks should you be able to see? Do not move until you have a specific reason to take a step [8].
- Observe. Check what you have: daylight left, weather, injuries, water, food, layers, phone battery and signal. If you are on a trail, stay on it [8].
- Plan. Come up with a few possible plans, think them through, then act on one [8]. Say it out loud. If you are not extremely confident of the route, the plan is to stay put [8] (Step 4).
Your first decision is made by your thinking brain, after 5 minutes of rest, water and food, instead of by the urge to walk faster.
Step 3: Rank Your Needs With the Rule of 3s
SKILL: You can rank survival needs by the rule of 3s (air, shelter, water, food): in cold or wet, get out of wind and rain and off the ground first.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The rule of 3s is a rough guide, not a measured limit: about 3 minutes without air, 3 hours exposed in harsh weather, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Its job is to stop you fixing the wrong problem first. Food feels urgent but is the least urgent; water matters within days, as people survive only days without it [11].
- Air and bleeding first. Check that everyone is breathing and has no serious bleeding or injury.
- In cold, wet or wind, warmth comes next. Put on every layer, a hat and a windproof layer now, before you shiver hard [2][7].
- Get out of the wind and rain. Use rocks, dense trees, a hollow or a tarp [2].
- Get off the ground. Sit on your pack, a foam pad, branches or leaves, never bare ground or snow [7].
- Then water. Drink regularly from what you have [12]. In heat, rest in shade to cut sweating.
- Food last. Eat to keep up energy [7], but you can go weeks without it.
You spend your energy in the right order: out of the weather and off the ground, then water, then food.
Step 4: Decide to Stay Put and Be Easy to Find
SKILL: You can decide to stay put when lost: near the trail in open ground with bright colours spread out, moving only for rising water, wildfire or deadly exposure.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The Park Service's rule is simple: retrace your steps only if it is safe to do so; if you cannot, stay put, because changing location makes it hard for rescuers to find you, and move only if there is an immediate threat to your life [2]. The Forest Service adds that if you are not extremely confident of the route, it is always better to stay put, and that you should stay in place at nightfall, when injured or near exhaustion [8]. Help can take hours or days to arrive [2].
- Decide. If you are not sure of the way back, stay [8]. Stay without question at nightfall, when hurt or exhausted [8].
- Pick the spot. Choose the trail itself or the nearest clearing beside it, where you can be seen from the path and from the air. Stay out of thick brush.
- Spread colour. Lay out bright clothing, a pack cover or an emergency blanket where it can be seen from the path and the air [2][13].
- Settle in. Shelter, layers, off the ground (Step 3). Then rest and save energy [2].
- Know the 3 reasons to move. Leave only for an immediate threat to your life [2]: rising water, fire coming toward you, or exposure that will kill you where you are. Move the shortest safe distance, then stop again.
You are where searchers look first, visible from the path and the air, with your energy saved.
Step 5: Carry a Lighter and Whistle, and Signal in 3s
SKILL: You can signal for rescue in 3s (3 whistle blasts or flashes, pause, repeat) with a pocket lighter and whistle, lighting a signal fire only where safe.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Shouting is tiring and does not carry far. The Park Service says a whistle helps people find you and saves the energy you would spend yelling: blow 3 times, take a break, and blow 3 times again [2]. With a flashlight, flash the SOS pattern: 3 quick, 3 slow, 3 quick, and use it wisely because it drains the batteries [2].
- Pack it once. Put a whistle on a cord and a lighter in the pocket of the jacket you always hike in, and leave them there.
- Use the count of 3. 3 blasts, pause, 3 again [2].
- At night, use light. Flash SOS with your torch or phone light in short bursts to save battery [2].
- Fire only where safe. Light a small signal and warming fire only where fire is allowed and the risk is low, never in fire season or dry, windy conditions [2].
Searchers can hear you and see you, and you have saved your voice and energy for the wait.
Go further
- Plan Every Outing So You Never Need Rescue: Trip Plans, the 10 Essentials and Turnaround Times
- Signal for Rescue: Whistles, Mirrors, Fires and Satellite SOS
- Build an Emergency Shelter in 30 Minutes
- Find and Purify Water Anywhere
- Keep Going When It Is Hard: The Survival Mindset with Children and Groups
- Survive Storms Outdoors: Lightning, Flash Floods, Tornadoes and Sandstorms
