We were thinking (me and GF) that if we took a tumble for the worst how would an ambulance find us in the woods? So we have made a list of grid reference numbers and postcodes for relevant places nearby. However we wondered how do emergency staff locate people who get injury in remote places?

We plan to print a list of these details and put them in our camel’s in the event of an emergency? And if it proves successful might put up a PDF for other to use and do the same?

If you have a mobile phone with you and it’s life or death situation, phone the police and they can ping your phone and get an area to start searching.

Usually somebody finds you, then rings for the ambulance/mountain rescue, they then arrange to go to a pre determined place, probably near road access, and wait, waving something bright when they see the blue lights approaching, oh and dont forget to leave someone with the casualty.

Oh and carry a whistle, it helps people find you.

redthunder – Member
We were thinking (me and GF) that if we took a tumble for the worst how would an ambulance find us in the woods? So we have made a list of grid reference numbers and postcodes for relevant places nearby.

I’m obviously misunderstanding the question here… what ref nos/postcodes are you carrying with you?

I’ve thought about this many times, mainly because 99% of my riding is solo. I always make sure that Mrs T knows my route. I also have a satnav feature on my Nokia E72 that gives a grid reference for my exact location (as do many other phones). Assuming I’m conscious and have mobile reception (which I do on most of my regular rides) then I’d hope to use that.

This would be riding a bike in the UK then, as opposed to going out into the wilderness?

crikey – if you think that there’s no wilderness in teh UK, then you’re not looking hard enough.

The problem with the whole “this is the route I’m doing” scenario is that folk get caught out pressing on with that route when they should really be re-considering the options.

I wonder if he’s descended from Ernest Shackleton…

Just go out with a massive ball of string, letting it out as you go. That what the police can just follow it to wherever you are.

Cats might be a problem though.

iirc then the phone mast is the initial location id which can be incorrect, verbal id with call taker gives the precise location (if you know it), don’t rely on mobile phone mast triangulation as i don’t think it’d be routine, best bet is traditional (presuming the paramedic has completed the latest smoke signal tracker module)

If it’s an area you don’t know then take maps or make a note of places near by or yeah grid references.

Together with the police, RAF and mountain rescue we’ll find you.

I’ve lived and worked here all my life so even hill names I recognise. Not the case with all staff of course so a little info helps.

crikey – if you think that there’s no wilderness in teh UK, then you’re not looking hard enough.

Oh no, crikey is

RE te guy using his e71 gps to give a grid ref …. you wont be found ….

its about as accurate as a me using a 50caliber rifle to blow up a pin head …. yesterday it had me in the middle of the north sea when i thought id see if it was accurate – i was on top of elrick hill !

Ok GPS and grid refs have their benefits but there’s nowt wrong with pinpointing your location using existing landmarks, place names, road names / numbers etc.

Before you know it they’ll be putting signs up every hundred metres apart on roads so that numpties who crash will be able to pinpoint their exact location in the event of an accident

Oh, apparently they already are:

Take a map and know how to use it. Then you don’t need a list of grid refs!

(Which aren’t much use if you’re half-way between two of them!).

don’t rely on mobile phone mast triangulation

Does this even work at all ?
As I understand it, the phone company can only tell if a phone is within signal range of a mast, they have no means of telling the direction.
If a phone is within range of two or more masts, they could narrow the position down with a sort of Venn Diagram overlap, but that’s not proper triangulation or Direction Finding.

we quite often get jobs “in general area of Leeds” when address is taken from mobile phone info. which is clearly useless. Ideally have someone meet the crew at nearest road access, we’ll then decide of we’re taking the ambulance down a track/ across a field etc. If this is not possible, i.e you’re out on your own/ performing CPR then you need to know roughly where you are, the name of landmarks that are on maps (not local names, as we often don’t know them), where you set off from and where you are going.

Not being a rural paramedic this isn’t my specialist area, but having dealt with a few jobs on t’moors we normally refer to mountain rescue/ air ambulance or expect you to get yourself to a road.

Sadly the last job i did on the moors involved a large grow of people, none of whom knew where they were, none of them had a map and no one thought to walk back to the road to call the ambulance. They also decided to shelter under a bushy tree, so the air ambulance had no chance of finding them. I’m not sure the time delay had any effect on the outcome of the situation, but when one chap suggested that we took “too long to get there” I was less than diplomatic.

Lol, Al, has your great grand-daughter been showing you internet tricks again?
Given the number of mountain biker corpses that litter the trails of the UK, maybe we shouldn’t really go out without sherpas?

If there is two of you one walks / rides out to the nearest road if the other cannot be moved. Then they can direct the services in. If the casualty can walk then they go to the road

Have a map and know how to use it. Take a pencil you you can make notes / write stuff down ( its easy to forget details of where you are)

On your own – then its let someone know the route and expected time back. ( with the caveat as Druidh says)

Do not rely on mobile phones / GPS. they can and do fail.

On a similar theme…
I was cycling home late at night through a nature reserve a few weeks ago when I saw a car on fire.
The gate I rode through was locked, presumably the car had been driven in through one of the other entrances.
I phoned the fire service and gave the location, but I wasn’t sure about giving directions from the nearest road, as that would be through the locked gate.
Do emergency service vehicles carry the keys to any public access land that they cover ?
I would guess fire engines carry bolt cutters, but what if an ambulance got called out to an incident on FC land with good fire road access, but a locked gate at the main road ?

The bright thing to wave – orange bivvy bag, this is one reason why I’d carry one above a space blanket even though it is heavier & takes up more room, it works to keep casualty warm & makes them hi-viz.

Taker the tyres off your bike and set fire to them seems to work well in france, you get lots of people watching/looking.

RE triangulation via phone signal – if you have ever used google lattitude you will realise how freakily accurate this is! (mostly in urban locations, I agree).
I can track (and vice versa) the whereabouts of my wife with a frightening degree of accuracy – like tracing her route to/from work perfectly!

It made me wonder what the phone companies coud get up to with targeted advertising/selling our details AND location to companies?

Wonder past M+S, phone rings, “Hi DrP, why not pop in for a new pair of knickers….?”

DrP