Injuries in the Wild: Recognize and Get Help
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What you will learn
- 1Check that a scene is safe before going to someone who is hurt
- 2Recognize the signs of a serious injury in the wild
- 3Keep a hurt person still, calm and warm while help comes
- 4Get the adult at once and signal for help if you need to
Mini Lesson
In Grade 4 you learned the calm steps for everyday injuries at home. In the wild, help can be hours away, so spotting a serious injury early matters even more. Your job is not to treat anyone. Your job is to recognize the danger, keep everyone safe, and get the adult fast. A calm, quick helper is the most useful person on the trail.
🌿 The Wild Way (stop, check, get help)
- STOP AND CHECK: before you go to someone who is hurt, look for danger - falling rocks, a steep edge, fast water or fire. Don’t become the second person hurt.
- GET THE ADULT AT ONCE: shout or call for your grown-up right away. Say who is hurt, what happened and where.
- STILL, CALM AND WARM: help the hurt person keep still, talk to them gently, and help keep them warm with a jacket.
- DON’T MOVE A HURT NECK OR BACK: if someone fell or hit their head and their neck or back hurts, don’t move them. Wait for the adult.
- SIGNAL FOR HELP: if the adult tells you to, use three whistle blasts or shouts, as in Grade 4 "Signal for Rescue".
- THE ADULT CALLS: the adult calls your local emergency number or sends for help. If the grown-up is the one hurt and can’t call, you call the emergency number (911 in the US) and say where you are. Everyone else stays together.
Signs of a serious injury (get the adult right now)
- HEAVY BLEEDING: blood that keeps flowing or soaks through clothing. Firm pressure on the wound with a clean cloth slows it while the adult takes charge.
- A POSSIBLE BROKEN BONE: an arm or leg that looks bent the wrong way, is very swollen, or can’t be moved without great pain.
- A HEAD BUMP PLUS: after a bump to the head, the person seems confused, very sleepy or throws up.
- A BAD BURN: a burn that is large, blistered, or on the face or hands.
- A BITE OR STING WITH SWELLING: swelling of the face or lips, or any trouble breathing.
- TOO HOT OR TOO COLD: the warning signs from your Grade 5 heat and cold lessons, like dizziness, confusion or very hard shivering.
This is an ADULT lesson. The adult is in charge of every injury. You recognize, keep safe and get help - you do not treat. Never leave the group to go for help alone unless the adult sends you with someone. Stay with the hurt person or the group, and the adult calls your local emergency number.
Words to know
injury
Harm to the body, like a cut, a burn or a broken bone.
e.g. The adult checked the injury and decided what to do.
scene
The place where someone got hurt, and everything around it.
e.g. I checked the scene for falling rocks before I moved closer.
serious
Bad enough that the adult must come right now.
e.g. A head bump with sleepiness is serious.
swelling
When part of the body gets puffy and bigger than normal.
e.g. The swelling around her lips meant we got the adult at once.
signal
A sound or sign that calls for help, like three whistle blasts.
e.g. The adult asked me to signal with my whistle.
emergency
A sudden, dangerous moment when help is needed fast.
e.g. In an emergency, the adult calls your local emergency number.
🧠 Survivor’s Trick: when you reach the adult, give the message in three parts - WHO is hurt, WHAT happened, and WHERE they are. "Sam fell on the rocks by the big pine, and his leg looks bent." A clear message lets the adult act fast.
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