# Getting EMS help in an emergency?



## cebee (Apr 4, 2010)

An acquaintance recently was badly injured when she was unseated by her horse. Luckily it was still at the trail head, and EMS was able to get to her quickly. But it got me wondering. If you or someone you are with were badly injured out on the trails.. not necessarily hours from civilization- even just an hour or 2 trail ride... how would you let EMS know where you are? Is there a GPS app that would let you give the first responders a location? 
It really got me thinking- I cant imagine leaving a friend laying there, and try to find my way back with the EMTs- not even sure how they would get out there... Has anyone had an experience with getting help far out on the trails? 
Hopefully it never happens but I guess its better to think it out in advance.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

There are GPS apps. Many. 

I recommend having good first aid skills, though. GPS fails. In my region we often have no cell or satellite service. If you are in a draw, gully, coulee, you may not either.

I have an elderly uncle by marriage who spent 3 days on the ground with a broken pelvis, hanging on to a green horse, after the horse tossed him. A neighbor flew his small plane and that was the only way we found him. No cell service in the draw. They saw the horse first. That's why uncle hung on to him.

Uncle healed. That horse turned out pretty good (he'll stand in one spot like no other!). Uncle is still riding his own colts.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Satellite phone and satellite emergency beacons are the best bet for whatever backwoods activity you enjoy.

Had a friend dumped when some hikers came around the corner unexpectedly. His wife had a two hour ride to reach the trail head then an hour drive before she could get a cell signal. They used a life flight to get him out of there. Luckily the hikers stayed while watching him and the horses (they had been horse packing for a week and where heading back out). Instead of going to the hospital, she had to turn around and go get the horses. Not a fun time.


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

An early experience I had was before cellphones (imagine that!!) there were four of us on a road ride and some idiot driver spooked the horses resulting in one girl hurt. I was the one voted to call for help which involved riding to the nearest house with someone home to make a phone call, the first two didn't.

Now, once you can make the call, area's that are not accessible by vehicle are serviced by a rescue helicopter. Not sure about other hospitals, but ours has two helicopters supported by Westpac bank and public donations. They regularly are called out to distant and inaccessible areas for all sorts of accidents.

Cellphones aren't always reliable, there are times when you can be in a 'no service' zone. So if you are riding on your own you should have somebody know where you are riding and how long you expect to be. At least if you didn't arrive back or your horse turned up alone, they would know where to start looking.

If someone knows of an emergency app I would be interested to know as well.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Here's a link to a backpacking article that tells about cell phones and 911 calls. Very interesting. I didn't know this stuff.

Prof. Hike: This Post Might Save Your Life - Backpacker


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

I have heard a lot of people use this. 

SPOT SATELLITE MESSENGER :: HOME PAGE


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Our TRACKS/ Blue Diamond Trail system in Northeastern Arizona has starting numbering the trail markers every 1/4 mile or so. So if someone needs rescuing, you can call in and say we are at marker C5 or whatever. 

That only helps if you have cell coverage and are a marked trail, but I thought it was an ingenious idea. Apparently before that, they had to rescue people who had no idea where they were at and it was very difficult to find them.


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## Oreos Girl (May 24, 2011)

My father was in a really bad accident. Luckily he was riding with someone, but that person had to ride back to camp to get service. Then there was the question of which county was he in because they wouldn't respond if it was the wrong county. Luckily they found a park ranger and went to the area. All told though it was over 2 hours before my dad was picked up by ambulance.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

I ride a lot in the rugged East Tennessee and N. Georgia Appalachians. Thankfully, I haven't had a serious event to occur but I've thought about this alot....

Most places don't have cell service......and many are an hour off the black top and several hours off the dirt road (forest service roads). The reality of it is should something happen it's going to be a long while before anyone can get to us.....a lot of days we never pass another soul on the trail.....so, we're out there...alone....

I carry two GPS's....one on me, one on GF. I always have 1:24,000 topo maps and a 1:63,000 Nat Geo trails illustrated map. I have several of the forest services employee's (rangers, leo's etc) business cards in my wallet.

I always let someone know where we're riding.....and come dark.....someone is going to start expecting me home.....

Learn to use UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) rather than lat/lon as this is the fastest and most efficient way to project a waypoint onto a paper map. It's very similar to the system the army uses to call in an artillery strike.

I like to ride with 4 people. This doesn't usually happen and most of the time it's just GF and I....but with a group of four, if one goes down, then one can stay and two can ride out for help.... 

A year or so ago, we rode up on a group, one of which had been thrown and broken her hip.......this wasn't that far back but yet it still took about 3 hours for the first responders to reach her........they took her by ambulance to a clearing to meet a life force helicopter...sparing her the bumpy, pot holed ride out....

This is a good discussion and I'm glad someone brought this up again.....

My question is, what do first responders need in a way of information should a situation arise in the back country?


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## horseboy1 (Mar 29, 2014)

I got bucked off my horse a couple of years ago and broke 7 ribs and fractured 3 vertebrae. Luckily, we were just 50 ft from our driveway! The ambulance didn't have to go far off the main road. Always keep your cell on you. My horse ran back to the house/barn so if it was on her then, we would have had to run back to the house.

I have a amateur radio license and always carry a handheld radio. I can almost always get into a repeater (they are on mt tops typically and can cover a large area) where there's no cell coverage.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

I always ride with my phone on _me_ and my DH as well as several local friends and family have the password to the Find My iPhone app. In theory, that will track the phone even without a cell signal. *knock wood* I have never had to try it..


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## Eole (Apr 19, 2013)

> My question is, what do first responders need in a way of information should a situation arise in the back country?


They'll need position, as precisely as possible, including best known access for the ambulance to park. (if airlift isn't an option). Then medical precisions: type of injury, conscious or not, vital signs. If it's a medical problem (heart attack, fainting) rather than trauma, they must know, so to bring a defibrillator.

I work in ER in a touristic but huge and wild area. Tourists are experts at getting in trouble, especially as novice snowmobile or ATV drivers... :icon_rolleyes:
We don't have access to helicopter service. Ambulance gets to trail head then paramedics and police get on trail with ATV/snowmobiles to the victim.


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## Eole (Apr 19, 2013)

I ride alone and use trails that are basically only known to me. In some areas, if I got injured, I'd be in trouble. Cell service fortunately works in most areas I ride. I tell DH the general direction I'm heading and how long I intend to ride. He usually forgets. :icon_rolleyes: On longer expedition, I bring a phone battery back up. Then if I get lost and use the phone GPS apps, I won't worry losing draining the battery. 
Many good GPS apps, but they all drain the batteries. I only use those apps if I'm lost.



> Find My iPhone app


This is brilliant, thanks for the tip. I'll write my password in his phone.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

I carry a SPOT satellite locator. I carry it when I ride, hike or take a road trip. You pay a yearly fee but it's worth it in an emergency. Thank goodness I have never needed to activate it.


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

Darrin said:


> Satellite phone and satellite emergency beacons are the best bet for whatever backwoods activity you enjoy.
> 
> Had a friend dumped when some hikers came around the corner unexpectedly. His wife had a two hour ride to reach the trail head then an hour drive before she could get a cell signal. They used a life flight to get him out of there. Luckily the hikers stayed while watching him and the horses (they had been horse packing for a week and where heading back out). Instead of going to the hospital, she had to turn around and go get the horses. Not a fun time.


Well said. If you are in the mountains, a lot of the time you won't get any service. A GPS beacon is what you would need to get. We just bought one ourselves.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

There is an app called GPS, find me! I was told about it while riding in Louisiana at Rustic Sky. They said a group had come in the late afternoon and took off and got lost in the woods and night had fallen. They couldn't even tell them where they were. They finally found them. This will at least give you coordinates - but is only as good as the signal. I do carry a GPS with me so I can tell someone where I am at.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

Safety hint...Always carry a whistle.
The sound of a whistle could help emergency people find you in case you are not directly on a trail. That sound carries.


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## BoldComic (Feb 26, 2012)

I'd say knowing the area you are in, and what the trail or area you are going into is called is the biggest thing. It could save your (or someone elses) life. Don't just head out on a trail without knowing the name.

We get several 911 calls for injured riders in our county every year. My husband works for the Sheriff's Office as well as EMS in our county. Most of the guys around here know the area really well and the trials as well. If there is a call that is out on a trail Search and Rescue usually gets paged out as well. They have the equipment to get to someone in a back country area quickly. If you've called 911 obviously you (or someone with you) has a phone. Simply letting the 911 dispatcher know which trial head or parking lot you left from is a lot of help. It also helps if you know about how far you've gone or at least how long you've been gone. They can also "ping" your phone to get a basic idea of the area. Sometimes this helps and sometimes it doesn't. Also, our dispatchers will ask what type of vehicle you left (if you trailered) so they know they are at the right trail head when they get there and see your vehicle.

If you are riding with someone that is injured but not bleeding out it may be a good idea to try to ride back to where you started to meet rescue workers. I know it seems scary to leave someone injured but you'd get them help quicker by leading rescuers in to them.


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

not to drag this off topic: our local trail system has markers on the map but nothing listed while on the trail "you are at emergency location 19" a few of the locations are listed as helicopter landing zones. do you just ride your horse & pony the injured person's horse a mile down the trail and tie them up if you are bringing in a helicopter?


we have the military jets flying over the trails quite often and the horses don't seem to mind but i'm pretty sure mine would have her eyes pop out of her head if one of those metal birds tried to set down anywhere close lol


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

There are a few devices, but one of the ones I really like and considering getting this week is the Spot Messenger. 
SPOT Gen3

The best one I've found because it allows you to ping your location if you have someone at home who wants to keep track of where you're going. Great device if you are riding on your own as well. Worth the money.


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