Chapter 8Orientation, navigation, and rescue…
Chapter 8 · Basic skills · 14 min read

Orientation, navigation, and rescue signals

Being lost is rarely a problem by itself; it becomes serious when a person keeps walking aimlessly, gets exhausted, gets dehydrated, and moves away from where searchers will look. This chapter teaches you how to know where you're heading with or without a compass, what to do as soon as you realize you're lost, and how to get rescuers to see and find you.

The essentials · if you only have a minute
  • Before you leave, tell someone where you're going, by what route, and what time you'll be back. It's what speeds up a rescue the most.
  • If you get lost: STOP. Stop, Think, Observe, Plan. Almost always the best thing is to stay in one place where you can be seen.
  • Call 911 even if you have little signal; say where you are first. If the call doesn't go through, try a text message to 911. Save battery.
  • Anything in threes is a call for help: 3 whistle blasts, 3 flashes, 3 fires in a triangle. SOS in Morse: ··· ––– ···.
  • From the air, a large V on the ground means "I need help" and an X means "I need medical help." Minimum 8 ft (2.5 m).
  • Without a compass: the sun rises in the east and sets in the west; at night, the North Star marks north.
  • Helicopter: never approach from behind or without the crew signaling you to.

In this chapter

8.1Orientation without a compass3 min read8.2Map and compass2 min read8.3If you get lost: STOP2 min read0/68.4Rescue signals3 min read8.5The cell phone2 min read0/78.6Personal locator beacon (PLB)1 min read8.7Helicopter rescue2 min read
Chapter sources (1)
  1. 1.Survival, FM 21-76 (cap. 26: navegación de campo; cap. 26: señales) y ATP 3-50.21 Survival — Ejército de EE.UU. 2.Emergency Signaling — Be Ready Utah (Utah Division of Emergency Management) — https://beready.utah.gov 3.Lost in the Woods: STOP — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation — https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/ legal_protection_pdf/lostinwoods.pdf 4.ICAO Annex 12 / AIP GEN 3.6 Search and Rescue: Ground-air visual signal code for use by survivors — OACI 5.Magnetic Field Calculators (declinación) — NOAA NCEI — https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/calculators/magcalc.shtml 6.Beacon Registration — NOAA SARSAT / U.S. Coast Guard — https://www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov ; https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/ CG-5R/SARfactsInfo/Beacon_Registration_Brochure.pdf 7.Optimal Landing Zone Set-up — Maryland State Police Aviation Command — https://mdsp.maryland.gov/ 8.Helicopter Operations Best Practices — U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, District 7 — https://www.uscga-district-7.org/pdf/operations/ helicopter_ops_best_practices.pdf 9.Text to 911 in Bexar, Comal and Guadalupe counties — Bexar Metro 9-1-1 Network District — https://bexarmetro911.gov ; KSAT (2015) 10.Text to 911: What you need to know — Federal Communications Commission — https://www.fcc.gov/text-911