Over the last while I have noticed what seems to be an
increasing number of rescues of those who have managed to get into situations
that in many cases never should have come about in the first place. There are
those who have a high, even arrogant opinion of their abilities (many of these
do have a very high degree of skill) and will head off into areas that may be
closed for the season or into areas that are known to be extremely risky for
any number of reasons though they know they should not be there they are ‘good
enough’ to handle anything that may arise. In addition to these we now have the
adventure tourists, people who pay at times what are extraordinary fees for the
‘right’ to attempt what only the few, rare extremely skilled experts in the
field of endeavour they are entering would ever attempt. Then in some cases
they then proceed to ignore the advice of those experts because they have paid
for the adventure they are going to see it through even when warned that it is
for whatever reason no longer safe to proceed. Then of course there are those
with no skills or any idea of what they are doing other that partaking
something they always thought it might be nice to try, they saw the video and
it looks simple.
Once upon a time there was the expectation that one needed
to be able to get themselves out of trouble and that the knowledge that yes
once you got out there, wherever that place may be, that you where on your own.
With that came the knowledge that if things went wrong you may not come home so
you had better be ready for all eventualities. A couple of years ago I was
talking to a scout leader who had recently taken an advanced first aid course
which included scenarios that involved life and death decisions he said that
they made him consider things he had never thought of before and that he came close
to no longer leading the kids on trips.
Now when asked if
they are ready for any emergencies that may arise while they are pursuing their
particular adventure, many will proudly show off their sat phone, and locator
device and that is often the extent of the planning. How about a first aid kit
and the skills to use it? What at one time took weeks or months of meticulous
training and planning in addition to the time spent in the acquisition of the
appropriate skills has been replaced with these devices, and the attendant
expectation that when you hit the button someone will come running and do so in
a timely fashion, timely being defined by the person with the problem. This is what
I refer to as the gamer mentality, all you need to do is hit reset and you get
out of the situation that you have found yourself in with no real consequences.
That mythical creature the taxpayer gets the bill and on you go to try again
next year, reset complete.
The other thing that has come with this is the lowering of
what defines in many minds what an emergency is, people who feel that sending
out a rescue chopper for them because the weather is going to hold them up and
they may be late for work so it is only reasonable as far as they are concerned.
For those who may interested our normal practise even for
something as simple as a day paddle, we
carry a ditch bag (I will admit that this may not happen in areas where we are
paddling close to shore in a well populated area) it contains a couple of space
blankets, a water filter, matches, compass, a few emergency munchies and whatever
other supplies are appropriate for the situation. What that means is that if I
paddle a half day into a park or any other area and something goes wrong I will
not even be real hungry until the second day of my one day paddle. These things are kept in a dry bag so when we
head out all you have to do is add some food (today’s lunch doesn't count) and
the first aid kit and you are on your way. It also means that I don’t have to depend
on cell phone reception or someone else to get me out of what is not an
emergency but an uncomfortable inconvenience.
