Safety redundancy, plans.

[fngTony]

Today I learned that yesterday I was in close proximity and about an hour and a half behind someone who unfortunately didn’t make it.

That got me thinking about some general things before heading out.
1. It’s probably best to have more than one sos messenger per group of people.
2. Even you don’t want to use your phone I would recommend everyone your with to periodically check if they have reception. Real time communication is best.
3. Share any important health information with your partner/group. Simply knowing ahead of time might make the difference.
4. Everyone moves at the pace or skill level of the least experienced.
5. If you’re going for help let everyone you come across know what happened, they just might have a means of communicating or might also have medical experience to help.

Anyway be safe out there, feel free to add to this.

 

[CobraChicken]

Excellent ideas.

I carry a garmin inreach, garmin handheld, onx on phone and my garmin watch has GPS also have a compass. I learned the hard way by breaking my phone and not having anything and getting home.

Pace is so important. It could make someone's experience or break it.

One thing I'll add is make you own first aid kit. Trauma kits, practice sutures, blood pack, etc. I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Any idea what happened to the person that didn't make it Tony?

 

[fngTony]

Any idea what happened to the person that didn't make it Tony?

They haven’t released the name or much details so I’m holding off as to not incite bad information. It wasn’t a homicide, firearm related thing and I didn’t witness anything though.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Damn…sorry you had this experience.

 

[fwafwow]

I’m sorry for person who didn’t make it.

These are great recommendations. It may be good to always have some sort of safety talk - before shooting at the range, hunting in a dove field or drainage, or any group event. Although it might be considered overkill by some, saying “I’m leaving my keys here and this could be a vehicle to use in an emergency.” “Here’s my IFAK” “Here’s proof my action is clear” etc. can’t hurt to share/remind.

 

[schmalzy]

I’m sorry for person who didn’t make it.

These are great recommendations. It may be good to always have some sort of safety talk - before shooting at the range, hunting in a dove field or drainage, or any group event. Although it might be considered overkill by some, saying “I’m leaving my keys here and this could be a vehicle to use in an emergency.” “Here’s my IFAK” “Here’s proof my action is clear” etc. can’t hurt to share/remind.

Big fan of showing someone else your action is clear while asking them to verbally confirm it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Billy Goat]

Something kinda different, but.

Years ago I was at a convention with a friend, I say friend, it was work related, but we got to be close later, I'd actually travel to his place and hunt, he would come to mine (more than your normal days work to get between them).

Anyways, point being neither of us knew much about anyone else there, he turned to me and told me the password on his phone incase I'd need to open it to get in contact with his family for an emergency. At first it seemed weird, but after thinking about it made a lot of sense to me.


Probably something that if it's 2 people out together, be good to be able to use the others communication device if needed, like yours becomes inoperable for some reason.

 

[TaperPin]

At least in the Rocky Mountains hypothermia is the most dangerous thing to contend with. A little rain, some hail, maybe a skiff of snow, get turned around with the sun going down and every single person should have the skills and basic survival equipment to not end up in a bad way.

Every year I see unprepared hikers and hunters completely unable to start a fire and stay warm If need be, let alone navigate their way out.

Just by accident we were backpacking and scouting an area - following a topo to know where we were - and it funneled us into a completely different drainage. To this day it’s the most tricky piece of land I’ve walked across - and a favorite spot to teach route finding. So far 12 people following a topo were tricked as I was. These places keep you humble - make sure your group can avoid mistakes.

If you’re over 50 a stress test is a good idea - a friend just found out his arteries are so closed up his days of strenuous mountain travel are over - perfect candidate for heart attack.

 

[Marbles]

If you’re over 50 a stress test is a good idea - a friend just found out his arteries are so closed up his days of strenuous mountain travel are over - perfect candidate for heart attack.

As a healthcare provider who works in cardiology, I would not recommend a stress tests for anyone who is asymptomatic (Edit: except possibly in high risk individuals who are relatively sedentary, though even here the data is not completely clear on value: End edit). It is a 10 to 15 minute conversation to comprehensively explain why, and I don't feel like writing it up currently and besides if someone is worried they should really have a conversation with their provider about it anyway.

The short answer is that we hurt more people than we help with asymptomatic testing and there is no way to know if you will be someone we hurt or help before hand as our crystal balls don't work any better than anyone else's.

As a side note, I have patients who continue to hunt and/or live in remote areas of Alaska, the surest way to die is to stop living and people who stay active do better.

 

[TaperPin]

As a healthcare provider who works in cardiology, I would not recommend a stress tests for anyone who is asymptomatic. It is a 10 to 15 minute conversation to comprehensively explain why, and I don't feel like writing it up currently and besides if someone is worried they should really have a conversation with their provider about it anyway.

The short answer is that we hurt more people than we help with asymptomatic testing and there is no way to know if you will be someone we hurt or help before hand as our crystal balls don't work any better than anyone else's.

As a side note, I have patients who continue to hunt and/or live in remote areas of Alaska, the surest way to die is to stop living and people who stay active do better.

Thats the biggest crock of shit I’ve heard in a long time. Lol

You obviously are not a cardiologist and don’t understand preventative medicine.

 

[fwafwow]

Thats the biggest crock of shit I’ve heard in a long time. Lol

You obviously are not a cardiologist and don’t understand preventative medicine.

Are you a cardiologist?

 

[fngTony]

Thats the biggest crock of shit I’ve heard in a long time. Lol

You obviously are not a cardiologist and don’t understand preventative medicine.

He said it’s too long of an explanation to type out so let’s take it at face value if you can’t refrain from derailing the thread.

 

[5MilesBack]

If you’re over 50 a stress test is a good idea -

I take a stress test every year........during the month of September elk hunting. Only God knows when my time is up, and when that is.......is up to Him.

For me........safety is just one of those things that I tend to push the envelope on. My daughter is always saying "You're about 2 seconds from stupid, Dad". I live on the edge, I hunt solo a lot, I rarely have my phone and it doesn't get reception up there anyway most the time. My family knows that, and they know me.......and they accept that.

 

[TaperPin]

No, but I’m old as f*ck and have a good BS detector. Dozens of friends have been screened, ultrasounded, and stress tested as basic preventative care for anyone over 50 who likes to do strenuous activities. It was required for any firefighters over 45 when I was doing that. Blow smoke up someone else’s ass.

 

[Stache Attack]

It sure can happen to anyone even if you think you’re good on the Mountian. I’ve seen guys break down, get loopy from elevation, get turned around in the rain etc. wife finally convinced me to get an inreach or zoleo. When i was a free man I figured I wouldn’t mind perishing on the Mountian now it would be tougher on her than anyone. Solo archery hunting seems to be easy to get in on deer and bulls. Usually no service even 20 miles from the house after work.

Did a sheep and goat count in the Bob Marshall two weeks ago thought about doing a write up on here, friend who works for them and I got separated in an evening storm few miles from camp and no water most of the day. Glad we still had our whits. Think 250 for sat communication would be worth while.

 

[justinspicher]

I don’t carry an inreach, just my phone. I’ll just leave a a screenshot with the family and a list of folks to call if I don’t come back by a certain time. This forces me to make smart decisions and not deter from my plan.

 

[homebru.trout]

No, but I’m old as f*ck and have a good BS detector. Dozens of friends have been screened, ultrasounded, and stress tested as basic preventative care for anyone over 50 who likes to do strenuous activities. It was required for any firefighters over 45 when I was doing that. Blow smoke up someone else’s ass.

You apparently are also equipped with a malfunctioning aggro-magnifier. For a fella with FNG after his name you're sure coming in hot. There is a forum specifically designated for folks that want to act this way...it's called monstermuleys.com. A health care professional gave his perspective in a respectful manner and the rest of us received it that way.

To the OP: I can't agree more with #3. When I left CO for a couple years, I still returned to hunt...and my first year back I drove straight to the mountain and went like hell hiking in. First morning I woke up with fluid in my lungs and not feeling well and didn't say anything. My hunting party met up with me later in the day and I was saying and doing all sorts of erratic things. I luckily recovered after a ton of water and a good night's sleep but an honest assessment of how your feeling is critical when hunting with others.

 

[stanginthe11s]

my survival kit contains 4 things, knife, space blanket, duct tape and compass. I've accepted long ago that you can't plan for everything. all the communication in the world will not help if you're unconscious, and if I'm awake I'm fighting.

in my opinion, anyone who plans on going out in the woods should have knowledge of survival. that does not mean starting a fire or catching food, the biggest issue people have in the woods is fear. learn to stop, relax and assess the situation. the biggest mistake people make in the woods is moving.
also, some understanding of symptoms and possible remedies for various issues.
A tip I read somewhere was to leave a note on your car with the date and time saying if I'm not back by X time call S&R. always thought that was a good idea.​

 

[Marbles]

No, but I’m old as f*ck and have a good BS detector. Dozens of friends have been screened, ultrasounded, and stress tested as basic preventative care for anyone over 50 who likes to do strenuous activities. It was required for any firefighters over 45 when I was doing that. Blow smoke up someone else’s ass.

Stress testing of various professionals is mandated by various governing bodies because people lie to keep working. There is also local variability (the State I was a firefighter in did not require stress tests). It should not be confused with good preventative medicine.

Thats the biggest crock of shit I’ve heard in a long time. Lol

You obviously are not a cardiologist and don’t understand preventative medicine.

You are correct that I'm not a cardiologist, though I did not call myself one.

As for preventative medicine, what information does a stress test in an asymptomatic and low risk patient give us that helps?

A stress test is a physiologic test of perfusion, it does not identify none perfusion limiting lesions (so certainly cannot be considered primary prevention), nor can it differentiate the cause of the lesion. The tests themselves are pretty low risk (about 1:10,000 will lead to hospitalization), but a false positive will likely lead to a left heart cath, which is higher risk.

Anyway, if you can provide data (not what cardiologists have done for your friends, I can go talk to one of the interventionalist I work with and get their input at any time), I will reconsider.