Getting lost

By preparing properly, you can minimise the risk of getting lost and make it easier to cope in the terrain. If you do get lost, act calmly and call for help as necessary.

Checklist for a forest trip

• Tell a loved one or the reception of your accommodation where you are going and at what time you are coming back.
  
  
• Take a fully-charged phone and powerbank with you. Download the 112 Suomi mobile app and allow it to use the location of your phone. When you make an emergency call with the application, it will automatically share your location with the emergency response centre.
  
  Sharing your location takes up a lot of battery, meaning that you should deactivate the feature when it is not needed.

• Take a map and a compass with you even when your phone has a map application. Your phone may stop working, and Google Maps, for example, is not well suited for orienteering in the terrain, since it only shows roads and waterways. Therefore, you should carry a map that shows the terrain features. Orienteering clubs, for example, sell them.
  
• Decide in advance the main compass point you will head in if you get lost. This “emergency direction” should offer you an elongated target – e.g. a river, lake or road – that helps you find your way to other people.
  
  
• Dress according to the season and wear something colourful to make you stand out in the terrain. Back a sufficiently warm spare set of clothes in your backpack. Also carry a first aid kit, thermal blanket, matches, kindling and a knife.
  
  
• A whistle is a lightweight and inexpensive piece of safety equipment. Its sound travels far.
  
  
• Also pack something to eat and drink. It is important to remember to drink enough, especially in extremely hot and cold weather.
  
  
• Items that must not get wet, e.g. matches and spare set of clothes, should be packed in a plastic bag. A map should be covered with plastic or kept inside a plastic pocket in rainy weather.

How to avoid getting lost

When walking in the woods, consciously observe the terrain and its features. If you are picking berries or mushrooms, remember to occasionally look up from the ground and see where you are. Observe from which direction you came and where you are going – can you see e.g. a strangely shaped tree, rock or other terrain feature?

You can also leave your berry bucket on a high rock or other location where you cannot miss it.

If you are out with another person, constantly remain within seeing and hearing distance of each other.

If you get lost

• If you notice that you do not know your location, stop for a moment and take a good look around. You can take a break and eat something, gather your strength and see whether there are any familiar landmarks that can help you find your way to the nearest road.
  
  
• Do not move in a random direction, but decide in advance where you are aiming to go. Lost in terrain, people often start going round in circles without noticing. You can follow a power line, for example.
  
  
• If you do not know where to go or if you are hurt, call the emergency number, preferably with the 112 Suomi application. This allows the ERC operator to see your location and either guide you to the correct direction or call for help. Do not turn off your phone after the call, since they may call back to you.
  
  You should remember that anyone can get lost and that it is the job of the emergency response centre employees to deal with such emergencies. So do not be embarrassed, but call for help in time.
  
  
• If you decide to wait for the rescuers, keep yourself dry and warm as best as you can. You can start a fire or make a cover for yourself with a thermal blanket.
  
  
• You can be looked for on the ground or from the air. If you hear someone calling your name, call back or blow the whistle. If you hear an airplane or helicopter, go to an open area and make yourself visible.

The article is based on the interview of Katri Lilja of the Finnish Orienteering Federation in the Vapepa-info magazine 1/2018 and the instructions drawn up by Vapepa leader Heikki Maukonen.