Survival situation scenario (Advanced)

[klkak]

Advanced

Your decisions are now very critical. Again this is meant to get you thinking. It is a training scenario. Your answers will be critiqued in such a way as to guides you to making the best decisions possible. Good luck.

You and your and your family, (wife, son 13, daughter 10, daughter 2) are driving home to surprise your parents for the holidays. You are traveling in your GMC Yukon XL. After many hours of driving you are becoming very tired and tell your wife you need to pull over to get some rest. She volunteers to drive so you can rest. You agree, but tell her to wake you when she gets to the mountains as it will be dark then and you would rather do the driving on those roads in the dark. As she approaches the mountains she thinks about stopping and letting you take over but decides to let you continue to sleep awhile longer. The higher up she drives the worse the weather get. There is several inch’s of snow on the ground and the snow is falling steadily causing poor visibility. Approaching a sharp curve your wife looses control of the Yukon. You are awakened violently as the vehicle breaks through the guardrail and over the edge. You are disorientated for a moment then black out as the vehicle slams to a stop at the bottom of the brushy ravine. After a short time you wake up to the crying of the baby and discover what happened. All of you have sustained some very minor injuries, but in general are in good conditions. You ask your wife where you are. She is not sure. It is about 2:00am.

Type of environment: Mountains, You are about 75 yards from the road. The ravine is steep but climbable. There is a considerable amount of brush between you and the road hiding your vehicle.

Weather conditions: Cloudy, Snowing heavily, Temperatures are in the low teens.

Season: Mid December

Equipment:
The Yukon’s front end is smashed up. It will not start
The left front tire is torn off
There is ¾ tank of gas.
Each of you is wearing normal street clothes
Each of you has a suitcase with extra clothes to include some warm winter wear
Diaper bag w/ diapers, baby wipes, baby powder and diaper rash ointment
1 emergency road side kit with:
Jumper cables
2 road flares
Flashlight w/batteries
Small tool kit
1 pr. Leather gloves
First aid kit
(you have a cell phone but there is no signal at your location. You will have to come down out of the mountains a bit before you have a signal)

Supplies:
Thermos of coffee
Cooler with:
Assorted fruit
Several bottles of water
Loaf of bread
Pack of cold cuts
Assorted snacks for the kids

Number of people in the group: 4

Each person's strengths:
You know your own strengths
Wife is a caring and nurturing woman
Son is strong, athletic and level headed
Older daughter helps with little sister

Weaknesses: Wife is a worrier and you have trouble walking.

Medical condition:
You use a cane because you are still recovering from knee surgery
Older daughter has asthma
Everyone has minor bumps and bruises

[Rick]

How far down the ravine did we fall? Or...how far back up to the road?

[klkak]

Good question. I'll add that to the scenario.

[crashdive123]

Klkak - I'll write up my solution and send it to you via pm. Seems that once somebody answers, others tend to shy away. When I do, feel free to share the pm when or if you want.

[klkak]

Very good idea.

[crashdive123]

It's on the way.

[tacmedic]

Is the vehicle still able to run at all?

[klkak]

Tacmedic, I'll clarify that in the scenario.

[crashdive123]

Come on everybody. Klkak put a lot of effort into writing up a scenario to get us to think. Give your brain a little exercise and jump on in.

[tacmedic]

I'll bite.

It's 2 AM, you have no idea where you are, can't walk well with a cane in the dark and the daughter with asthma will have problems with the high altitude. You need to stay with the vehicle until the morning as long as there is no risk of a fire in the vehicle. Put on your extra clothes and bundle up as warm as you can for the night. Might not be a bad idea for someone to go up to the roadside periodically with one of the road flares or flashlight to try to flag someone down if you can. Honk the horn periodically (if it works) to try to attract attention. Generally try to make yourself as big as possible. In the morning again go up to the roadside and attempt to track down help. Make a signal at the roadside from brush or debris, or set the brush on fire with one of the flares to try to attract attention. I would be hesitant to leave the vehicle as it provides shelter, either myself and the son or the wife and the son would try to walk a ways down the mountain (as long as it was not still snowing) to get cell phone signal, all the while trying to wave down help. But if after about twenty minutes of walking there was no signal, turn around and go back to the car. Sounds like we have plenty of food and water to hold out for a while. We can all huddle together in the vehicle for warmth at night.

[klkak]

Tac, I'm gonna hold off a bit with a critique of your solution to see if some other folks want to try the scenario.

[Gonzzo]

I'll take a shot at it too:

It is 2am and pitch dark outside. Unless i can SEE signs of life on the road, going outside for help would be useless(see side note below). Im going to assume that all of the windows are intact and that the yukon will make a good shelter(no fire hazard, no risk of flooding or any other danger). look everyone over and assure and inform them that the situation is under control. Gather warm clothing and medical supplies, treat injuries ans needed and distribute warm clothing accordingly. Get information from wife; what the hell were you thinking?!?!?! comes to mind but now is not the time. Questions to ask:

How far(time or distance) do you think you have driven since i fell asleep?(will help with possible location).

Have you seen any other cars on this road? (will give me an idea of whether or not to venture outside for help)

When and what was the last building you saw along the road?(same as above)

I would try to pinpoint our location using the trip odometer reading (i always re-set it when going on a trip).


Side note: I am mechanically inclined and i would have no problems extracting fuel from the yukon safely. I might consider soaking some cloth from a seat or a rubber/cloth floor mat in gasoline. Take that and some rubber from the left front tire, hike up to the road with the help of my son and light the piece of rubber on fire right in the middle of the road. Tires, whole or in pieces will burn for a long time and in daylight give off a very dark smoke. Chance of fire spreading would be minimal due to wet terrain and road surface. Any one seeing this tire on fire would have to stop and investigate, maybe light another smaller fire near the yukon?. end of side note.


At this point, feed snacks to family(a meal right before bed time will keep you warmer). The body creates heat as it is digesting the food, keeping your body core warm. Save the coffee, i read somewhere that caffeine is a bronchial dilator, this could help my daughter in case of asthma. If nothing else it might give ME a boost and help me hike my butt up the hill come first signs of light. At this point make everyone as comfortable as possible and tuck them in for the night, do so with a reassurance that everything will be fine. Good nite

Although rare in new vehicles(specially gm) death by suffocation due to lack of oxygen is still possible so, crack a couple of windows every now and then to get some oxygen back in the yukon.

First signs of light execute side note and seek out help. Implement smoke and fire signals with full out tire fire in the middle of the road, this complemented by signal mirrors(side and rear view off the yukon)aimed by wife and kids at anything that moves and last but not least a few honks of the horn for good measure(use conservatively as to not kill the battery, in case i have to do round 2.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well?, how did i do?. am i seeing my parents or arey visiting us in the cemetery?.

Thanks.

Gonzzo.

[Rick]

I sent mine via PM.

[klkak]

Gonzzo, That was a very good answer. I have no doubt you and your family would have been rescued.

[klkak]

I sent mine via PM.

Rick, I got the e-mail. I have to admit that was a very unique solution to the scenario.:D

I will post all the replies to these scenario's that I receive privately in a few days. In order not to give away any ideas.

[Pict]

Short answer...

Given the lack of serious injury and availability of warm clothes, unless I smelled gasoline heavily I would stay with the vehicle until first light. Between 2AM and early morning light there is little chance of anyone coming along. On the other hand if I had noticed traffic in either direction before the crash I would bundle everyone up and either climb to the top myself or send the son (apparently able to handle the task) with signal flares and hope to wave someone down. Anyway That would be my strategy at first light. Most likely some form of snow removal truck would be by in the morning.

There are a lot of variables that would affect this strategy. How stable is the vehicle and in what orientation did it land? How much glass is left in it? I'm just assuming that its still ugly side down and not perched on the edge of a cliff, nor flooding with water in the ravine. Mac

[klkak]

Mac, I PM'd my evaluation of your solution to you. In a few days I will be sharing some of the ideas folks came up with and talk about them.

[DEET]

ON STAR:D


Seriously though. I would take inventory of what we have and prepare ourselves for a few hours of night together. In the morning I would help my family to remain calm and warm using fuel from the vehicle, nothing is more calming than a fire in a survival situation. I would then take debris from the wreck and hike up to the road making as amny trips as is prudent and create a sort of sign or large arrow pointing to where we went off the road. Most importantly I would keep my family in the safety of the dry vehicle and wait for rescue.

[Rick]

On Star....smirk, giggle.

[RangerXanatos]

After we all layer up in clothes, I would make sure that the headlights are left on (if they still work), weigh the brake pedel down with the thermos of coffee, and turning on the hazard lights. Me and the boy would carry the tire parts to the road and light them on fire with the road flare hoping someone will be curious of the lights. Brush would also be layed out pointing in the direction of the wrecked vehichle. We then go back to the vehichle and and layer snow to insulate the inside and place the flashlight facing toward the sky and a pair of bightly colored (non white) boxers/underwear/panties on the antennea if there is one, if not then it placed in a conspicious spot in an adjacent tree. If we are still cold after insulating the vehichle, we would tear the seats in order to get the inside fabric to stuff in our clothes. We then wait the night out by periodically honking the horn till morning while eating/drinking if we feel the need. When morning comes, me and the boy walk back the way we came from the road till we meet civilization or have phone signal, after lighing another tire on fire in the road with more brush pointing the direction to the vehichle.

[klkak]

Deet and R.X. I PM'd my comments to you.

[klkak]

Klkak - I'll write up my solution and send it to you via pm. Seems that once somebody answers, others tend to shy away. When I do, feel free to share the pm when or if you want.

The following is Crashdive123's solution to this scenario.


This one is tough. Not because of the conditions so much, but rather because it involves family and I am less than 100%. To top that off, it was a surprise visit so nobody will miss us, as they are not expecting us. After assessing the situation my focus is on keeping everybody calm. Once we all realize what happened, realizing that there are no serious injuries. We formulate a plan. I want my older daughter to continue to look after my youngest and keep her calm. This will help keep her on an even keel – and decrease the likelihood of triggering her asthma. My wife will go through the luggage to get warmer clothing for everybody. I take my son and tell him how I am counting on him. Since my injury will limit my physical capabilities he will have to be the workhorse. He’s a good boy, I know he will do well.

Getting everybody calm and geared up will probably take about an hour. It’s now about 3 a.m. I figure it will start getting light in about 4 hours. We’ve got warm clothing and can huddle together to help stay warm. I cannot get the truck started since the front end is so badly damaged. Wanted to use the heater, but no joy. I am unable to climb up the ravine efficiently – I’m going to have to rely on my son for that. It’s too risky for him to do tonight, so we plan for starting up when it gets lighter – besides, we hear no passing traffic. Immediate concern is to stay warm. We’ve got shelter and warm clothing, but with temps in the teens I want more. Water and food are not an issue right now. Everybody (not the baby) drinks a little coffee. It warms the insides, and I need the thermos. I instruct my son to start gathering brush and dead limbs lots of it. He takes the leather gloves to keep from injuring himself and help keep his hands warm while foraging through the snow. I know I can get a fire going because of the flares, but I want to save those for now. While he is gathering fuel for the fire, I have my wife listen for passing vehicles and looking up the ravine for the reflection of headlights on the falling snow. If a passing vehicle is detected, start honking the horn to signal. Passing vehicles will probably have their windows up, but you never know – might have a smoker with the window cracked. While using the flashlight, I take the tool kit, locate the fuel line in the mangled mess of an engine compartment and use the pliers to cut it. I fill the thermos with gasoline. I crimp the fuel line to prevent fuel spillage (fire hazard and waste). With the fire pile gathered and placed about 3 or 4 ft away from the vehicle on the passenger side, I pour a small amount of gasoline onto the fire pile. There is no wind down in the ravine, and I make sure that there is nothing burnable near the fire area (don’t want to make a bad situation worse). Using the vehicle cigarette lighter and a small piece of cotton from one of my t-shirts I get a glowing ember and toss it onto the fire pile. The warmth from the fire helps some, and psychologically it does wonders.

My daughters sleep for a bit, as does my son. My wife, being the worrier that she is stays up making sure her children are safe. I keep the fire going and look after all.

As the night sky begins to lift, I wake the kids. We all eat a little and drink some. Morning assignments – oldest daughter continue to look after the youngest. Wife keep the fire going. My son’s assignment is to get up to the roadside to signal passing vehicles. He is acutely aware of staying safe. He takes the two road flares with him to signal with. He also takes the jumper cables to help him up the hillside. I take that shredded tire and put it a bit further away from us, pour some gasoline from the thermos on it and light it from an ember from the burning fire. Heavy smoke billows into the sky. After about 15 minutes of heavy black smoke, a vehicle is coming up the mountain. My son lights one of the road flares to signal. Vehicle stops – it’s a State Police vehicle…….safety awaits.
This is an excellent solution to the scenario.

[Rick]

Good job, Crash. The next time I have a wreck I want you in the vehicle!!

[crashdive123]

Thanks...........I think.:rolleyes::rolleyes:;)

[Gray Wolf]

Well thought out crash! Well written.

[klkak]

:confused:He calls himself "Crash" and Rick wants him in the vehicle when he wrecks!:confused:

[crashdive123]

There does seem to be a certain irony in that. At least he didn't want to go flying.

[Rick]

I'll leave that to Hopeak. He has this pre-flight ritual that you seem to like. ;)

[crashdive123]

True - seems to take away some of the "oh my goodness, we're all gonna die" jitters.

[Rick]

Yep. Moves you right into the, "Yeah? We're gonna crash? Hang on. Let me get my camera first. This will make a great shot."

[klkak]

I am almost sorry I said anything.

[Rick]

Back to herding cats.

[yellowcab]

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