Surviving the odds
LOST IN THE BUSH? PRIORITISE NEEDS OVER WANTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL RESCUE
Exploring Australia’s beautiful bush and rugged landscapes can be a dangerous pastime with one walker or hiker needing rescue on average every day of the year. While most are usually found within 24 hours, occasionally a weekend adventure can turn to tragedy. Australian Ky Furneaux has built a career on surviving in difficult situations. At 19, her quiet life in rural South Australia was overturned when a car accident broke her back. Doctors told her she’d never be physically active again.
It was the first time she ignored the words, “you can’t”.
She fought her way back to full health, with rock climbing as part of her rehab. She has since become a stuntwoman, an outdoor guide and author, and appeared on Discovery’s Naked and Afraid program.
Furneaux has now written
Survive: The All-in-one Guide to Staying Alive in Extreme Conditions.
“I haven’t written this book to instil fear in you about all the possible things that could happen to you in this world,” she says. “Quite the opposite, actually. I want you to know that whatever unexpected event happens, with the right mindset, a bit of preparation and some general knowledge, you have a good chance of making it out the other side of a disaster.”
Furneaux says: “The decisions you make in the first 24 hours are critical. The first thing to understand is that there isn’t ever a one fits all solution for every situation.
“You need to figure out how best to manage the hand dealt to you. It’s important to know is the difference between your wants and needs. A survival need is something that you will die without and a want is merely a luxury item in this scenario.”
Here are her top survival needs:
SHELTER
Shelter can be as simple as stuffing some leaves in your clothes to provide insulation from the cold and protection from wind.
You don’t need to build a log cabin, just remember the ways your body loses heat and work to prevent that. This means getting out of the wind, insulating the ground and trying to find something to cover yourself with.
FIRE
Fire is helpful on so many levels. It can provide warmth, help purify water, cook food, deter predators, signal for help and add comfort.
Always carry some form of firemaking method on you.
This is because the art of friction fire (making fire by rubbing two sticks together) is a skill that requires knowledge, practice and the right wood available to be successful.
I prefer the ferro rod which has about 2000 sparks, no moving parts that can fail and is waterproof.
Although you can last up to three days without water in ideal conditions, in harsh, dry weather, you could perish in less than a day. More than 90 per cent of the world’s groundwater is polluted so it is important to try to purify it before drinking.
Boiling is best, but that requires a vessel and a fire. Running clear water is better than stagnant water but is not assured of being clean. If you are out of options, drink whatever water is available because it may just prolong your life enough for a rescue. Filtering through clothing will get rid of chunks. Do not drink your own urine. It is full of impurities that the kidneys have already filtered out and introducing them to the body again can cause kidney failure.
FOOD WATER
You may feel starving by lunchtime but you still could last 20 more days before needing to eat. This is always the last of your priorities. Get the other needs sorted first.
Edible plants, berries and mushrooms can easily be mistaken
for poisonous ones so be very sure before you eat the vegetation. There are no poisonous land mammals so if it moves and you can catch it, you can cook it and eat it. Insects, grubs and reptiles can be just the thing that gets you through and can be easier to find and catch than a deer.
RESCUE
Unless your environment is dangerous, your best chance of rescue is staying put and making yourself as visible as possible. Any bright clothing or objects should be tied up high or placed in clearings to be visible from the sky.
Large SOS letters with arrows pointing to your location are key and if you have the ability to make fire, have piles of dry wood available to light should a rescue plane be sighted.
If you choose to leave your location, leave a note for rescuers that indicates the time you left and the direction you travelled. This will help them catch up to you faster. Survive: The All-in-one Guide to Staying Alive in Extreme Conditions, by Ky Furneaux, RRP $49.99 in all good bookstores.