Calling for Help in Remote Areas

When involved with any outdoor activity and an accident happens you may need to call mountain rescue if you cannot treat an evacuate the person yourself. If you are dealing with a minor accident and you think that you can deal and evacuate yourself, you can still ask the emergency services for their advice. They can have an ambulance waiting for you as you get into a more accessible place.

When an accident happens, stop and assess what you need to do. You can call the emergency services on 112 or 999 to access the mountain rescue. Before you head off make sure you know how you will call for help. It is likely in remote areas that the mobile phone coverage will not work. You can use satellite phones or convert your standard mobile into a satellite phone with a converter. The smartphone clips on to the satellite base and then you link them with Bluetooth. You can then make calls using the satellite network rather than standard phone coverage. If you are using a satellite phone, make sure you have a number to call as the 999 or 112 service does not always work in the same way.

The other way of calling for help is with a two-way radio. Make sure these are fully charged and working before you set off.

When talking to the emergency services, give them as much information as possible including your exact location or map reference. Many mobile phones have satellite navigation built into them and they can give you the exact location reference that you can relay to the EMS.

Once you decide to call for help while waiting you need to keep everyone warm and be visible to the emergency services. Use high visibility clothing, tents and blankets to shelter from the wind and rain and keep an eye out for help. It can take a long time for help to arrive so ensure you manage the casualty and the situation carefully.

If you do not have radio or phones then you can use the accepted international distress signal which is 6 blasts of a whistle or flashes of a light repeated every minute. The reply to this is 3 blasts of a whistle or torch flashes. Keep signalling even if someone replies so they can locate you.

If you are hard of hearing you can register your mobile to alert the EMS by text message. To register, text the word “register” to 999. You will then receive a text back telling you about the service. Once you read this, text “yes” and you will receive a message confirming your phone is registered or if there is a problem with your registration. For more information on registering to activate the EMS by text, visit www.emergencysms.org.uk