Washington Injury?

[sapblatt]

Cells - self reliance

aiight! i'll start it up again. who takes cell phones when they're hikin' anyway? isn't the point to get away from all that. it sure is for me. i know, i know, i know--most people say they leave 'em off and all. and maybe they do. but still. doncha like to feel like you're livin' a little dangerously (you're not really, but it's fun to pretend). yeah yeah, i know all these himalaya studs carry satellite phones and all. but hey, i think all that is overrated too. whatever happened to really puttin' yourself out there and relying on your own skills to get yourself out of any situation you may get yourself into? if you're out there with kids, then maybe i can see havin' a celly (but you can't always rely (apparently) on reception). but as a healthy and supposedly competent adult, why can't you venture out without one? huh?

end of rant.

<counterflame>
That is all really cool and exceptionally hardcore, but you could be causing family and friends (assuming we all have some) to be extremely concerned when they would not need to be. I carry a cellphone and it is fully charged and so far has never come out of my pack. The cellphone could allow you to be self-reliant in starting your own rescue. Sometimes we forget that just because we are expereinced, we are still just a slip away from a cast or worse.</counterflame>

 

[Hampshire]

<counterflame>
Sometimes we forget that just because we are expereinced, we are still just a slip away from a cast or worse.</counterflame>

I think that is Bruno's point.

 

[Stan]

If you're carrying a cell phone it is a simple matter to program in the emergency numbers of the area you're hiking. These numbers can be found in the guidebook for that area.

My "default" number is the state police. They are manned 24/7 and the dispatcher is, in all liklihood, familiar with the appropriate contacts and has a variety of communications links.

As for self reliance and the cell phone, I don't think the two are necessarily related. You can carry a cell phone and still maintain a high degree of self reliance and conversely, you can leave it home and be ... well, dependent upon others anyway. It's how you use it that matters.

Just remember, if you have an emergency or come across one, outside help is, in a backcountry setting, at best several hours away. What you can do in the meantime and what you can do to speed up that help suggest, to me, far more machismo than that tired "self reliance" blabber.

 

[HikerBob]

Just the other day I did the usual pre-trip briefing of one of the people I leave details with when I'm out hiking, giving trail names, times etc. and when I got done they, for the first time in two years (!), asked - "And who is it I call if you don't surface as expected?"

Well, I reminded them that it would be 911 and that the police would coordinate any S&R. However, it got me to thinking so I called NH F&G and asked them. Their suggestion was their Law Enforcement Dispatch number. It's not 24hrs but when unmanned it rolls over to the NH State Police.

I also carry a cell phone, turned off, and the F&G dispatch # is at the top of the directory.

So, for the White Mountains at least my suggestion is to call NH F&G Law Enforcement Dispatch at 603-271-3361


Someone mentioned a laminated information card. I've been mulling over this very idea.

My initial thoughts would be that the card would contain the following:

personal identification with picture ID - if unconscious/dead would identify you to S&R
emergency contact info - same person(s) you leave trip plans with
medical insurance info - shouldn't, but might speed/affect treatment
existing medical conditions - together with...
current medications taken and dosage - can radically change treatment options
known allergies - self explanatory
vehicle registration - to tie you to a trail head vehicle

For the super-fit youngsters this might not be a big deal, but in my case the medications I take can preclude the use of certain other drugs. I also have a (naturally not surgically) fused spine with a forward stoop and am unable to lie flat on my back. The latter might not be immediately obvious and if I were unconscious and got strapped to a carry board I could suffer spinal fractures. To say the least, this would not improve my situation!

Bob

 

[AntlerPeak]

aiight! i'll start it up again. who takes cell phones when they're hikin' anyway? isn't the point to get away from all that. why can't you venture out without one? huh?

end of rant.

I used to share that opinion Bruno, however, last fall I met my daughter for a hike at Petersburg Pass. She drove from the south, I from the north so there were two vehicles. When we returned to the cars mine would not start. It would not take a jump from her car. She had her cell, I did not even own one. Even with the cell it took three hours for a service truck to get there and they had to tow my vehicle home. Without that cell, it would have been a much larger problem. For solo hiking all the more need to have one especially with the rash of car break ins that are being reported here. It is one thing to drive home with a broken window but perhaps the thoughtful thieves may decide to disable or take your vehicle. In my old age I mellowed and carry a cell on a solo ( car ) hike.

 

[giggy]

cell phones - reception???

I started taking a phone when my wife was pregnant and still do - but I never get recepetion in the whites. I have verizon and have tried on washington, isolation, adams and few others. never any luck - maybe the phone is a piece of defecation. who knows.

anyone who says don't take them because of ethics is just totally out of realm of reality in my opinion. If they don't want to take them - fair enough.

they can help in a bad situation if only to put less risk on the people finding and helping you if you become overdue.

does that mean we don't take crampons, gore-tex, avalanche transceivers, becuase they aid us??

 

[bobandgeri]

We have tried our cell phone from many of the peaks in the Whites and have foud we have good reception. We have Verizon as a service. The actual model of phone does make a big differance, as my (Bob) phone has much better reception than Geri's. This past weekend, SherpaJohn called his fiance from the top of Owl's Head and recieved a call back while half way down the slide.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

I'm on Verizon too, and have never come close to getting a signal in the White Mountains (though I have at Joshua Tree and the Olympic Peninsula). Maybe it's the model - I don't know. Given that fact, it's a cheap way for me to avoid the ethics of bringing a cell phone on hikes. I always hike solo, and I don't leave precise itineraries with anyone because I don't know exactly where I'm going. Call me foolish, but I'm happier that way.

 

[DougPaul]

I have Cingular and have gotten service in a number of places in the Whites. I specifically got a tri-mode phone (analog, TDMA, and GSM) because the salesman said that TDMA would give me the best coverage in the Whites.

Coverage will vary by supplier and the modes covered by an individual phone.

Doug

 

[bobandgeri]

Good point Doug - many of the phones sold only work in an area covered by digital service, something you do not get in most areas of the White Mountains. You need to have a phone that works with an analog signal. One exception may be Nextel in some areas. I have a Blackberry for work and noticed that I have a digital signal all the way up past Cannon. Next week end I plan on testing it from Lafayette and Lincoln to see if it works from the peaks.