The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The following information is provided by Gary O’Brien, Search and Rescue British Columbia.

Child survival needs adult assistance. You can help children learn what to do if they get lost in the woods, by discussing and practicing the "rules for survival." Nobody ever expects to get lost, but it happens. Hopefully, this information will insure a safe return of your child should this misfortune ever occur. The rules are presented in a way which children can understand.

A definition of survival: staying warm and dry, while waiting to be found.

1. Stay together, do not separate – if with a friend or pet. The reason for this rule is body heat.

2. Stay in one place or area. Do not wander! This is the most important rule of them all.

3. Keep warm. This rule means to keep warm with the clothes you are wearing. Never take any clothes off.

4. Find a cozy waiting place, not a hiding place. A place out of the wind and rain, but not where you can’t be seen by searchers.

5. Put out something bright. Do anything to attract attention, but do not take off any clothes to do so.

6. Look bigger for searchers. Your waiting place should be near an open space. When you hear someone coming, move to the middle of the clearing and call. If you hear an aircraft, lie down, make like a snow angel, then get back up off the ground.

7. Do not lie on the bare ground. The only exception to this rule is the one above. Direct contact with the ground is dangerous.

8. Do not eat anything you are not sure of. Being hungry is not too bad of a feeling compared with being violently sick.

9. Stay away from large rivers and lakes. Instead, drink from a water supply that is smaller than you are, so you can not fall in.

For more information about educating children and adults about dealing with being lost in the woods, contact Deputy Bill Tawater, SAR coordinator or Officer Vernon Barton, Assistant SAR coordinator at the Wahkiakum County Sheriff’s Office or call 795-3242 or 465-2202.