Safety Tips for Camping Trips

camping trips should be enjoyable and safe. It sounds harsh and even a little bit silly, but the first rule of camping safety is: don't do anything dumb. You wouldn't think it should be necessary, and it might be useless, to point out how that's unsafe. But one can always try. Two common dangers that are easily avoided are lightning and inappropriate climbing.

Over 100 persons per year die outdoors from lightening strikes, most of those in wilderness areas. It kills more people in an average year than any other weather related phenomenon.

Lightning occurs most frequently within clouds, but a small percentage forms CG (cloud-to-ground) strikes. If you happen to be the tallest thing around, such as when you are standing on top of a hill, your odds of getting struck are higher.

Humans have substantial amounts of salty fluid within their bodies and that often makes for a preferred conductive path, relative to other nearby objects. You are even more so when you get wet, as from rain that precedes or accompanies lightning.

But it isn't necessary to be the highest, or even the most conductive, thing around to get seriously injured from lightning strikes. Being higher or more conductive makes you more likely, but the odds are still far from zero even when you're not.

Further, it isn't necessary to be struck to be injured. Lightning carries enormous voltages, it's true. But it requires only a modest amount of voltage to push electricity through you. The current (the amount of actual electrons flowing) is the primary killer. And lightning contains extremely high currents. Obviously, anything which can split a tree transmits considerable energy.

Just being near a lightning strike can knock you down or disturb physiological processes, such as injuring your eyesight, breaking an eardrum or singeing your skin.

A second major way in which some campers exhibit less than stellar reasoning is taking unnecessary risks in climbing or hiking.

Standing too close to cliffs is an obvious no-no. Rapid, unexpected gusts of wind are common in camping areas. It takes very little to push you over, especially if the ground near the edge is loose (as it often is). Don't tempt fate by moving closer than a couple of feet from the edge.

Climbing up can be just as dangerous. Rocks can loosen, leading to a fall and producing falling debris on your partner underneath. Trees growing out of the mountainside are clinging to rock by fragile roots. Small disturbances, such as you grabbing them for a handhold, can easily pull them loose. Bad for the tree, worse for you.

Even if you don't fall a dangerous distance, minor cuts and scrapes can turn deadly outdoors. It's rare, but improve your odds by keeping them minor. Breaking a bone, especially a leg, outdoors is no minor matter when there are no medical facilities nearby.

Don't try to exceed your limits by a wide margin. Risk for the sake of adventure is part of an exciting life. Foolish risk for the sake of impressing your fellow campers is dumb.

Basic First Aid in the Outdoors

Many camping areas are far from professional medical facilities. Even when rescuers and paramedics can fly in by helicopter (which they do only in extreme emergencies), it can take hours to locate the victim. In circumstances that could otherwise be minor incidents, but might turn major without treatment, campers are on their own. That means, a little first aid knowledge can go a long way.

The first lesson is simply to be prepared, both educationally and with the proper supplies. Learn what you need to do and take supplies with you to do it.

Minor scrapes and cuts can become infected and often turn much worse in the wild than in the city. Lack of proper cleansing, lower hygiene and other factors can quickly complicate what would otherwise be a trivial problem.

To head that possibility off at the outset, be sure to take along clean water, bandages (both wrap around and stick on), and disinfectant. Carrying both a combination pain-killer/disinfectant spray as well as cream is a good idea. The first acts really fast and allows you to easily cover the entire area, the latter lasts longer.

Closing wounds cleanly, quickly and effectively is vital, with larger ones more dangerous than smaller, obviously. The skin is the body's first and best defense against germs and helping it along is essential. Unless you're treating a compound fracture (a bone break in which the bone protrudes through the skin), you should wrap the wound after cleaning and applying anti-bacterial spray and/or cream.

With compound fractures, unless you have the medical knowledge to safely move the bone back, it's best just to immobilize it and wrap the limb as well as possible. Then seek emergency medical assistance as quickly as possible. If you can't contact anyone (many cell phones don't work in the wild), go get help. If it represents low risk of making the situation worse, take the patient to them.

A splint can often be improvised from branches, but you need something to tie them together with. Hence, one more reason to have ample wrap around bandages, gauze typically. A good addendum is aspirin, for those whose stomachs can tolerate it. Take care about dosage, though.

One good way to treat potential medical problems is to avoid them in the first place. Learn the appearance of poison ivy, poison oak and other toxic plants - and avoid them at all costs. They're more than merely an annoyance. Exposure to them results in an itchy rash that even anti-itch cream does only so much to relieve. Continual scratching will lead to an open sore and probable infection.

Scissors, or better still a multi-purpose Swiss Army style knife, is a must. The latter often contains a knife for slicing, small scissors for cutting and tweezers for removing splinters - all of which can be tremendously helpful while camping.

Minor problems can quickly grow to spoil a trip. Having the right tools and supplies along and the knowledge of how to use them, can keep most things under control. That allows everyone to still enjoy the experience.