Stay Safe

Be responsible: Your safety and the safety of others around you is your primary responsibility. What you wear, where you go, the equipment you carry and how you conduct yourself is vitally important.

Be avalanche savvy: Know the conditions present for an avalanche. Take a certified avalanche course. Find courses at Avalanche.org.

Be aware: Know the avalanche danger/conditions where you will be recreating. Heed all warnings.

Be prepared: Have at least these three safety items with you at all times and know how to use them. Everyone in your party should carry each of these items: 

• Avalanche transceiver: Know the terrain and avoid dangerous conditions. If you are caught in an avalanche, use your avalanche transceiver to help others in your party find you.
• Avalanche probes: These collapsible poles are longer than ski poles and are the perfect tool to begin searching for someone buried under the snow.
• Shovel: Each person in your party should carry a shovel. Shovels can help you dig others out who may be caught in an avalanche, help determine snowpack conditions, assist in leveling out an area for a tent, or be used to melt snow for drinking water. Watch a video about how to use your rescue tools.
• Backpack: Your pack should hold all your rescue gear, food, water, dry clothing, first-aid kit and other items.
• Partner: None of the above pieces of equipment will help you if you venture into the backcountry alone – always bring a buddy. 

Find more information at the Avalanche Center.

Remember: You are responsible for the safety of yourself and for those around you.

Floods can happen anytime during the year, such as after winter snowmelts, spring thunderstorms and fall hurricanes. When fire devastates a forest, little is left to hold the top soil in place so rains can send dangerous amounts of gushing water and mud.

Flash floods are rapidly developing floods that can happen with little or no warning. Flash floods can occur in mountainous areas on small streams, on rivers and even in towns. Water levels can suddenly rise in heavy rainstorms, leaving little time before small streams become raging rivers.

Stay safe from floods by following these tips:

• Know your area's flood risks and weather hazard bulletins by visiting weather.gov or your local news stations.
• Stay alert for signs of heavy rain with thunder and lightning where you are and upstream. Watch for rising water levels.
• Get to higher ground before flooding happens.
• It is NEVER safe to drive or walk into floodwaters. Turn Around Don't Drown®
• Avoid areas already flooded, especially if the water is flowing fast.
• Do not attempt to cross flowing streams.
• Don't try to swim to safety; wait for rescuers to come to you.
• Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize and respond to danger. During threatening conditions, do not camp or park your vehicle along streams and rivers.
• Be Ready

Remember: You are responsible for your safety and for the safety of those around you.

Hail is precipitation in the form of a chunk of ice that can fall from a cumulonimbus cloud. Usually associated with multicell, supercell and cold front-induced squall line thunderstorms, most hail falls from the central region of a cloud in a severe storm. 

If you are caught in a hailstorm:

• Seek shelter immediately if you are outdoors.  If you can’t find something to protect your entire body, at least find something to protect your head.
• Stay out of culverts and lowland areas that might fill suddenly with water.
• Stop driving. Pull safely onto the shoulder of the road away from any trees that could fall on your vehicle.
• If at all possible, pull into a sturdy garage or under a shelter to minimize hail damage.
• Do NOT leave your vehicle until it stops hailing. Your car will provide reasonable protection.

Sources: FEMA.gov, NOAA.gov

Remember: You are responsible for your safety and for the safety of those around you.

The human body is great at cooling itself through natural mechanisms, but extreme heat can overwhelm the body, resulting in heat-related illness.

Heat-related illness can include:

• Heat cramps
• Heat exhaustion
• Heat stroke

Older adults, young children and people with chronic medical conditions are at high-risk for heat-related illness. Hundreds of people in the U.S. die every year of heat-related illness.

When you visit your National Forests and Grasslands, take the extra time to protect yourself and others from heat related illness.

• Drink plenty of water. Avoid sugary drinks and alcohol, as they can lead to dehydration.
• Stay in the shade whenever possible
• Schedule the most rigorous activities for early or later in the day
• Wear lightweight, loose-fitting, light-colored clothing
• Keep a close eye on older adults, children, and those with chronic medical conditions

Heat Exhaustion

• Heavy sweating
• Weakness
• Cold, pale, clammy skin
• Fast, weak pulse
• Nausea or vomiting
• Fainting

What to do

• Move to a cooler location
• Lie down and loosen clothing
• Apply cool, wet cloths to as much of the body as possible
• Sip water
• If vomiting occurs and continues, seek medical attention immediately

Heat Stroke

• Heat stroke is a medical emergency. If you suspect heat stroke or see the signs below, call 911 immediately.
• High body temperature (above 103°F)
• Red, hot, dry, or moist skin
• Rapid, strong pulse
• Unconsciousness

What to do:

• Call 911 immediately
• Move to a cooler environment
• Reduce body temperature with cool cloths or with a cool bath
• Do NOT give fluids

Remember: You are responsible for your safety and for the safety of those around you.

When exposed to cold temperatures, your body begins to lose heat faster than it can produce. Prolonged exposure to cold will eventually use up your body’s stored energy, resulting in hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature.

Body temperature that is too low affects the brain, making the victim unable to think clearly or move well. This makes hypothermia particularly dangerous since a person may not know it is happening and won’t be able to do anything about it.

Hypothermia is most likely at very cold temperatures, but it can occur even at cool temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit if a person becomes chilled from rain, sweat, or submersion in cold water.

Victims of hypothermia are most often:

• Elderly people with inadequate food, clothing, or heating
• Babies sleeping in cold bedrooms
• People who remain outdoors for long periods — the homeless, hikers, hunters, etc.
• People who drink alcohol or use illicit drugs.

How do you prevent hypothermia?

• Before you spend time outside in the cold, do not drink alcohol or smoke.
• Drink plenty of fluids and get adequate food and rest. Water helps turn calories into heat and food high in carbohydrates helps keep you powered.
• Wear proper clothing in cold temperatures to protect your body. These include:
• Mittens, not gloves.
• One word: Layers. The outermost clothing layer should be wind-proof and water-resistant; inner layers should be wool or synthetics that are warm when wet. As you get hot and sweat, you can shed a layer or two and still feel comfortable.
• Two pairs of socks. Wool socks will keep your feet warm even if your boots are wet.
• Waterproof hiking boots.
• Scarf and hat that cover the ears to help you avoid major heat loss through the top of your head

What should you avoid?

• Extremely cold temperatures, especially with high winds. Find shelter.
• Wet clothes.
• Poor circulation, which is more likely from age, tight clothing or boots, cramped positions, fatigue, certain medications, smoking, and alcohol.
• If you have diabetes or circulatory problems, see your doctor regularly and maintain good health habits in order to reduce the risk of blood vessel complications that may put you at risk for hypothermia.

What are the symptoms?

• Drowsiness
• Weakness and loss of coordination
• Pale and cold skin
• Confusion
• Uncontrollable shivering, although at extremely low body temperatures, shivering may stop
• Slowed breathing or heart rate

What should you do?

Take the person’s temperature. If it is below 95 degrees the situation is an emergency, so get medical attention immediately. If medical care is not available, begin warming the person, as follows:

• Move to a warm room or shelter.
• Remove any wet clothing from the victim.
• Warm the center of the body first — chest, neck, head, and groin — using an electric blanket, if available, or warm compresses. Use skin-to-skin contact under loose, dry layers of blankets, clothing, towels, or sheets.
• Provide the victim with non-alcoholic warm beverages – but no alcohol – to help increase body temperature. Do not try to give beverages to an unconscious person.
• Keep the person dry and wrapped – including the head and neck – in a warm blanket even if the body temperature has increased.
• Stay with the person until medical help arrives.

Do not do the following:

• Do not assume that someone found lying motionless in the cold is already dead.
• Do not use direct heat (such as hot water, a heating pad, or a heat lamp) to warm the person.
• Do not give the person alcohol.

How serious can it get?

A person with severe hypothermia may be unconscious and may not seem to have a pulse or to be breathing. CPR should be administered in that case and continue until while the victim is being warmed, until the victim responds or medical aid becomes available. In some cases, hypothermia victims who appear to be dead can be successfully resuscitated.

Source: Forest Service research; National Institutes of Health

Remember: You are responsible for your own safety and for the safety of those around you.

Lightning only needs to strike once to cause considerable injury or death and no place outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area.  More than half of all lightning victims are struck during recreational activities. 

A thunderstorm during monsoon season provides vital, life-sustaining water to Coconino National Forest, Arizona, July 4, 2013. (USDA Forest Service photo by Mike Elson)

Lightning Safety Tips

There are precautions you can take.

Do: 

• Move immediately to safe shelter -- a building or inside a closed metal topped vehicle with the windows up -- when you hear thunder. Thunder means that lightning is nearby.
• Stay sheltered until at least 30 minutes after you hear the last clap of thunder.
• Stay low when outdoors – lightning hits the tallest object. Get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges, or peaks. If caught in an open field, seek a low spot and crouch with your feet together and head low.
• Stay away from objects that conduct electricity, such as barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, and other tall objects.
• Drop metal objects like golf clubs, fishing poles, umbrellas, and backpacks with metal frames. Wet items, such as ropes, also conduct electricity.
• Get off bicycles, motorcycles, horses, and all-terrain vehicles.
• Don't stay on lakes, ponds, and rivers. Seek shelter when a storm approaches. Boaters who cannot get off the water before the storm hits should crouch low in the boat. Once on land, get at least 100 yards away from shore.
• Carry a NOAA radio or visit weather.gov for weather updates. Remember that weather information is provided for a nearest city and not for a national forest or grassland.
• It is safe to touch someone who has been struck by lightning. Attend to people who have been struck by lightning. Call for help immediately. Perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, and stay with the victim until help arrives.

Don’t:

• Don't pitch your tent near the tallest tree – lightning strikes tall objects.
• Don't stand near isolated trees, on cliffs, ridge tops, or rocky overhangs. Run into the forest if possible. Caves are a last resort for shelter, as they have high risks, including falling hazards, rock falls, and cold, dark conditions.
• Don't stand in open fields. If you are caught in an open field, seek a low spot. Crouch with your feet together and head low.
• Don't sit or lie down – these positions provide much more contact with the ground, allowing a wider path for lightning to follow. If you are with a group and the threat of lightning is high, spread out at least 15 feet apart to minimize the chance of everybody getting hit.
• Don't return to an open area too soon. People have been struck by lightning near the end of a storm, which is still a dangerous time. 

Sources: U.S. Forest Service and NOAA/National Weather Service

Remember: You are responsible for your safety and for the safety of those around you.

A microburst is a localized column of sinking air that produces damaging winds near the ground. The high winds of a microburst can knock over full grown trees. The wind burst will typically last a few seconds. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts.

Pay attention to high wind advisories and high wind warnings issued by the National Weather Service. Stay indoors if a high wind advisory or warning is in effect.

• Take shelter immediately if there are high winds in the area you are visiting.
• Watch out for falling trees and limbs, and flying debris.
• Be careful when driving. Strong winds can make driving difficult, especially high profile vehicles such as motorhomes, campers and trucks. Be careful on bridges and overpasses.

Tune in to local weather forecasts and bulletins issued by the National Weather Service. Visit weather.gov for weather updates. 

Dust storms

Dust storms usually arrive with little warning and an advancing wall of dust and debris that can be miles long and several thousand feet high. Although they usually last only minutes, they can produce blinding, choking dust that reduces visibility and cause accidents.

• If dense dust is observed blowing across a road or approaching in your direction, pull your vehicle off the pavement as far as possible, stop, turn off lights, and set the emergency brake. Be sure to take your foot off of the brake pedal and that all tail lights are not illuminated to avoid another driver mistakenly going toward your vehicle in the belief that you are on the road.
• Don't enter the dust storm area if you can avoid it.
• If you can't pull off the roadway, continue at a speed suitable for visibility, turn on your headlights and sound horn occasionally. Use the painted center line to help guide you as you look for a safe place to pull off the road.
• Never stop on the traveled portion of the road.

Sources: Forest Service, National Weather Service, Ready.gov

Remember: You are responsible for the safety of yourself and for those around you.