Do We Teach Survival Skills That Are Relevant?

People undertake survival training for numerous reasons. It could be due to personal interest, a desire to become an instructor or for working abroad.

Many survival courses teach the same format and cover the fundamental survival skills which address the priorities of shelter, fire, water, food and navigation. As interesting as these topics are, I often question how useful these skills would be when faced with an emergency in a remote part of the UK such as in the mountains or on the moors. I have worked in the emergency services rurally for the best part of twenty five years and during this time I have attended a lot of incidents where the casualty has been in a remote location. On no occasion has anyone (the injured party or a helper) needed to light a fire, built a shelter from branches or had to snare a rabbit.

The rescue operation to retrieve a casualty from a remote location within the UK typically lasts hours, not days, unlike in other countries like Australia and the US that have vast areas of wilderness which makes searching for a missing person similar to looking for a needle in a haystack. Obviously, the search and rescue operation can only start if the alarm is raised, so if nobody knows that there is somebody in trouble or missing, no help will arrive.

My method would be as follows:

1) Safety.

As in any basic first aid training, get clear of any immediate danger, or make the area as safe as possible. Assess what has happened.

2) First Aid

Address life threatening conditions such as catastrophic bleeding and unconscious / airway issues. If a lone survivor and able to, the only option could be to self treat wounds and bleeding.

3) Protection

Seek shelter from the elements. Look for natural shelter and get out of the wind. Moving around to the sheltered side of a hill and laying on a roll mat inside a survival bag is very basic but can make a huge difference. If a casualty cannot be moved, do what you can around them. Don't stand in the wind and rain wondering what to do. Decisions are best made early on when you are not developing hypothermia.

4) Emergency Signals

Raise the alarm. Work out your grid reference or use the 'What 3 Words' app. If you have a phone signal - great as this makes calling for help simple. Give as much detail about the location and type of incident as possible, and stay put as long as safe to do so. The problem comes when you have no phone signal, or the search teams are in the area, but struggling to locate you. Mark your location. Torches, strobe beacons, and cyalumes can all be used. Utilize any clearing near your location by laying out ground to air markers (orange survival bags and foil blankets are great for this). Knowing the UK distress signal is really important and carrying a Perry whistle will allow for audible signalling as well.

5) Water

You are unlikely to starve to death during a survival emergency within the UK, but dehydration will make a person extremely ill and potentially kill them. Knowing how to source and make a water source safe to replenish your own water supply whilst you await rescue is very important.

6) Mental Attitude.

Stay positive and don't give up. We will find you and get you back to safety.

The above example is based on a person or a group wanting to be rescued. In the case of fugitive survival, the complete opposite comes into play. This is where the full survival training package offered on courses does matter. A person on the run will be constructing low profile / concealed shelters and will need to naturally navigate, trap animals and forage for food. This is probably why these subjects are taught on public survival courses - the content originates from or is heavily inspired by the military SERE training where being found by a search team is not always in a persons best interest!