Nature Safety: Survival, Fires and Emergencies Outdoors

Surviving on your own in nature

"Autonomous" means you must manage by yourself for some time, with no shop, no road and maybe no phone signal.

Before you go

• Tell a trusted person your route and return time.
• Check the weather. Carry water, a whistle, a torch, a first-aid kit, a map and a charged phone (power bank), warm and rain clothes.
• Walk with a group, and never leave a child alone.

If you are lost: STOP

Stop. Think. Observe. Plan. Panic wastes energy and makes you walk in circles. Usually it is best to stay near where you are, so rescuers can find you.

Priorities

1. Shelter from cold, heat, rain and wind (a harsh-weather body can fail in hours).
2. Water: a person can go only about 3 days without it. Drink only safe water: boil it for at least 1 minute (3 minutes above 2000 m) or filter it first.
3. Signal: three whistle blasts, three smoky fires in a triangle, or three flashes are the international distress signal. Bright clothes on open ground are visible from the air. Call 112 (works in India, the EU, Russia and many countries) when there is signal.
4. Food: you can last for weeks without it, so do not eat unknown plants or mushrooms.

Finding your way

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Follow a river downstream or a path; never take a shortcut down a steep slope. Naismith rule for planning: about 1 hour per 5 km, plus 1 hour for every 600 m you climb.

Natural fires

A fire needs three things, the fire triangle: fuel (dry grass, leaves, wood), heat and oxygen. Take away one and the fire stops. In forests, lightning sometimes starts fires, but people cause most of them.

How a fire spreads

• Wind pushes flames and sparks (embers) ahead, so the fire runs fast downwind.
• Slope: heat rises, so trees uphill are warmed and dried first. A fire runs much faster uphill than downhill.
• Dry fuel (summer, drought) burns easily.

In the 3D you see all three: the fire is round with no wind and no slope; long with wind; and long uphill with slope. The fire reaches the camp at different times.

If you see a fire

1. Leave early, calmly and call 112. Tell the group.
2. Go sideways to the fire's path, never uphill or in the wind's direction.
3. Choose bare ground, a road, a river or lake, or an area that has already burnt.
4. Smoke is deadly: keep low where air is better, cover nose and mouth with a wet cloth.
5. If trapped, lie face down on bare ground, away from fuel, and cover yourself with wet clothes and soil.

Prevent fires

Use only places meant for fires. Keep a metre of bare ground around. Never leave fire alone. To put out a campfire: drown it with water, stir the ashes, drown again and feel with the back of your hand: if it is not cool, it is not out. Do not throw bidis, cigarettes or glass in the forest. A firebreak (a cleared strip) gives the fire nothing to burn.

Natural emergencies: storms, floods, heat and cold

Thunderstorm and lightning

Count the seconds from the flash to the thunder. Sound travels about 340 m per second, so every 3 seconds is about 1 km. If it is less than 30 seconds (about 10 km), go inside a building or a hard-top car; wait 30 minutes after the last thunder. Avoid hilltops, open fields, lone trees and water. Crouch low on your toes if caught outside, keep apart from your group.

Floods and rivers

Never walk or drive into moving water: about 30 cm of fast water can sweep a car away, and even ankle-deep fast water can topple an adult. Do not camp in dry riverbeds or at the bottom of a valley. If water rises, move to higher ground. Rain far upstream can flood you without any rain over you.

Landslides and rockfall

Do not camp under steep slopes with loose rock or after heavy rain. Cracks, tilted trees, or a rumbling sound mean move away sideways at once.

Heat and cold

Heat: rest in shade at midday, drink small amounts often, wear a hat. Headache, dizziness and no sweating are danger signs. Cold: wear layers and keep clothes dry; shivering, slurring words and confusion are signs of hypothermia, so warm the person slowly and dry them.

Ecological literacy

Being ecologically literate means understanding how nature works, so that we can live safely with it.

• Ecosystem: living things (plants, animals, microbes) and non-living things (water, soil, air) linked together. Take one part away and others change.
• Food web: who eats whom. Feeding wild animals breaks it and makes them lose fear of humans, which is dangerous for both.
• Fire and forests: some forests need small natural fires to renew, but fires caused by people in dry seasons are too many and too strong.
• Water: streams look clean but may carry germs. Wash dishes 60 m away from the water.

Leave No Trace

1. Plan ahead.
2. Stay on paths and camp on durable ground.
3. Carry all your rubbish out.
4. Leave rocks, plants and animals as you found them.
5. Use a stove, and keep fires small and safe.
6. Keep wildlife wild, and watch from far.
7. Be kind to other visitors.

Try it: plan a safe hike

1) In the 3D, make the fire reach the camp as late as possible: try wind 0, slope 0 and a firebreak. Note the time. Then make it as early as possible. 2) At home, write a 5-line trip plan: route, return time, weather, what to carry, who knows. 3) Next thunderstorm, count seconds between lightning and thunder and divide by 3 to get km.

Key formulas and definitions

• Fire triangle: fuel + heat + oxygen
• Fire runs faster: downwind and uphill
• Lightning distance ≈ (seconds from flash to bang) ÷ 3 km (sound ≈ 340 m/s)
• Naismith rule: 1 h per 5 km + 1 h per 600 m of climb
• STOP = Stop, Think, Observe, Plan; distress signal = 3 of anything

Worked examples

Common mistakes

• Running uphill to escape a fire. Fire is faster uphill than you are.
• Hiding under a lone tree in a thunderstorm. Tall objects attract lightning.
• Crossing a river that looks shallow. Fast water can knock you down at knee depth.
• Thinking a campfire is out because there is no flame. Hot ash can restart a fire; feel it with your hand.