At this time of year, we should all be extra mindful of safety when hiking, especially on exposed moorland and the high hills.
Why? The weather can be shocking, many people are lured into the mountains by snow, the terrain becomes ultra tricky and the daylight is limited.
We love educating our guided walk clients about how to stay safe when walking. Our kit list should be a must have on all your walks, with or without YTO.
It’s fun to explore in winter conditions, if you’re capable, respectful of the dangers and have the right kit. But if you do get into difficulties, don’t wait for the situation to get worse, here’s what to do!!
Keep calm, assess the situation, have food, a drink and get warm, then take note of the following….
*Location (with a grid reference if possible - the YTO team can teach you how)
*Name, gender and age of any casualties
*Nature of injuries or emergency
*Number of people in the party
*Your mobile phone number.
Dial 999 or 112, then ask for ‘Police’ then ‘Mountain Rescue’.
Give all your prepared details of the incident and STAY WHERE YOU ARE until contacted by the rescue team. If you have to make a further 999 call, follow this procedure in full again.
If you have hearing or speech difficulties, you can contact the 999 emergency services by text. But this service is open to all as it may work when you have no phone signal.
You will only be able to use this service if you are registered with emergencySMS first, so register now — don’t wait for an emergency! Text ‘register’ to 999 then follow the instructions sent.
In an emergency, contact the emergencySMS service by texting 999. Your message should include ‘Police’ + details of incident + location.
*Keep your phone warm (batteries lose charge quickly in cold weather)
*Set off with it fully charged
*Carry a fully charged battery pack.