Call in

If you work in the outdoor sports industry ‘call in’ procedures will be second nature. However, many people who use the outdoors recreationally will very rarely use these simple systems that could very easily save your life.

Whether you are underground, out on a river or up in the mountains, there is always an emergency service equipped to rescue you – but this can only happen if they know you are in trouble and know where you are.

Mobile phones can not be completely relied upon in many situations – you may not have signal, you may have damaged your phone in an accident or have had an accident which would leave you incapable of making a call yourself.

Following a few basic procedures can increase your chance of rescue enormously;

• Find a ‘call in’ person – spouse, friend or parent it doesn’t really matter as long as you can rely on them to follow your progress and raise the alarm if necessary
• Leave a detailed plan of what you are doing and where you are going – grid references are ideal
• Leave details of vehicles and where you have parked
• Leave details of who is with you – how many, what ages
• Give a definite call in time for when you expect to be finished – if you have not phoned in by this time your call in person is to contact the emergency services by calling 999

Following these simple steps and leaving as much information with a responsible person, who will immediately raise the alarm if necessary, will make sure that in the case of an emergency someone will know that you are missing and what to do to help.

– Graham