'Hug the tree and wait': Search and rescue teaches kids what to do if they get lost in the woods
It's easier for crews to find a child when they stay in one spot, says SAR search manager
The best thing a kid can do if they get lost in the woods is stay put, says Prince George Search and Rescue team manager Dave Merritt, admitting the advice "sounds so counterintuitive."
It's a message Merritt has been giving kids as part of the Hug-a-Tree program that B.C. Search and Rescue has been teaching for the past 10 years, through the national AdventureSmart program.
"Each child is different, and each group we teach is different, but we teach them that if they stay put, it's going to be easier for us to find them," he said.
"If you keep moving on us, it's going to be harder for us to find you, because we have to search areas once, twice or three times to find you."
Prince George's Search and Rescue team has helped find a number of kids over the years, including, most recently, four-year-old George Hazard-Benoit, who went missing last weekend when he wandered into the bush near Mackenzie and was lost for over 30 hours.
"If we can start educating people younger, then it helps everybody in the long run," said Merritt.
Program for kids
The program is specifically designed for kids from kindergarten to Grade 5, Merritt told Daybreak North's Wil Fundal.
They teach kids, not only to hug a tree and wait, but also to always pack a space blanket to keep warm. A space blanket is a lightweight blanket made of heat-reflective thin plastic sheeting that reduces heat loss from a person's body.
He says children should also bring a whistle and always tell people where they are going, if they're planning to go into the woods.
"A whistle is one of those few sounds that is not really something you hear all the time in the bush," said Merritt.
He tells kids to blow the whistle in threes, because "that's a repeating sound that is not natural."
The Search and Rescue team will then respond and work its way toward the sound.
Kids versus adults
The search and rescue team also offers an adult outdoor survival course through AdventureSmart. However, it's often kids who make better students, Merritt says.
"The adults are harder to teach than children. And usually when we teach the children, they go back and teach the adults. People always think they can find a way out. People always think they know where they are. People always think that it's not happening to me," he explained.
"Where most children that we've taught this to kind of go, 'oh yeah, yeah we can just sit and wait. It's not a big deal.'"
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With files from Daybreak North