Emergency personnel receive survival training

Members of various emergency agencies in Mineral County gathered at the Superior Ambulance Barn Friday to receive training in wilderness survival and extended care.

The course was conducted by Alicia Tanrath, the occupational and health specialist at the Missoula Forest Service Office.

Tanrath began the course with a hypothetical scenario of a helicopter crash in the wilderness that resulted in an injury and the crew being stranded.

“Now how do you survive,” Tanrath asked attendees.

After giving the scenario, Tanrath went over the five golden rules of wilderness survival – life is survival, a quick rescue is the best rescue, only need the basics, plan your survival, and recognize danger is everywhere.

Tanrath then went into the make-up of a good survival kit, mentioning several items to include as well as options for pre-packaged versions.

“The most important part of a survival kit is knowing how to use the items in it,” Tanrath said.

“A survival kit is only useful if you know how to use everything in it.”

Another important factor for a survival kit, according to Tanrath, is to have the kit on you at all times in the event that the vehicle you are in is destroyed or the location of the kit is not accessible.

Tanrath then went into the various aspects of wilderness survival and said the most important part is improvising.

“You just have to think outside of the box,” Tanrath said.

Throughout the course, Tanrath showed attendees how to do just that – demonstrating everything from creating a litter for transporting injured people using shirts to creating a fire using a double a battery and a gum wrapper.

A common theme of the techniques she showed was time.

“All this stuff takes time,” Tanrath said. “It takes patience.”