Safety
tips
State
parks are great places to explore nature. If you are planning an adventure
in a state park, here are a few tips to make your visit safer:
General
safety tips
Swimming safety tips
Trip
information tips
Basic supplies checklist
What to do if you become lost
- Travel with a friend; don't go alone.
- Get a weather report for the area, and wear the proper clothes and equipment. Bring additional clothing for unexpected weather.
- Bring a cell phone and the phone number of the state park you're visiting.
- Consider planning your route using US Geological Survey topographical maps, especially if you are traveling long distances through secluded wilderness.
- Leave your trip information, including the time you'll return from your state park visit, with a responsible person.
- Learn to swim; it's never too late!
- Wear a life jacket, especially when swimming in areas that don't have lifeguards or when swimming outside a designated area.
- Distances across rivers or coves are always farther than they appear!
- Wear your life jacket in deep water.
- Swim with a buddy; never swim alone
- Watch your children around water.
- Know your swimming abilities and heat tolerance, and don't exceed your limits.
- Never dive into a lake or river.
If you are planning a long trip through state park wilderness, it is a good idea to share your trip plans with a relative, friend or responsible person such as a park ranger. Tell them where you're going and when you will return, the names of people going with you, your vehicle type and color, and your license plate number. Stick with your trip plan or notify the responsible party of any changes. Click here to download a sample trip information form. You can use this form to share your plans with a responsible person, or you can leave it on your vehicle's dashboard.
- Extra clothing
- Extra food
- Water
- Sunglasses
- Flashlight
- First-aid kit
- Matches or fire starter
- Map
- Compass
- Knife
What to do i f you become lost
No one expects to get lost in the woods, but it sometimes happens. If one day you become lost, don't worry! Our park rangers and search and rescue teams will find you. In the meantime, here are some tips that will help you survive and help our search teams find you quickly.
Stop, look and listen. Do you see a familiar landmark? Do you hear traffic noises? If not, stay in one place and do not wander. If you are lost, park rangers will notice your vehicle in the parking lot. Or, if you leave a trip plan with a friend or relative, they will call the park when you don't arrive home on time. Immediately, park rangers and search and rescue teams will begin looking for you. The people who are looking for you search for clues that will lead them to you. So, if you stay in one place, you will be found faster and you will not walk away from the searchers who are following the trail you have already left. Also, if you are lost and begin running around trying to find out where you are, especially in the dark, you risk falling or injuring yourself.
Stick together. If you are hiking with a friend or a pet, never split up. Stay together. Not only will you have a companion there to comfort you while waiting for the rescuers. Your friend or pet is a good source of warmth. If you become cold, huddle together to get warm.
Keep warm and dry. Your clothes will help you stay warm, so don't take them off. In cool weather, zip up or button your jacket and put on a hat and mittens, if you have them. To keep dry, find a waiting place that is out of the wind and rain. But, be careful to choose a place where searchers can see you. Sometimes the best place to stay is under a large tree. Never lie on the cold, bare ground except if you are signaling to an aircraft overhead. If you want to lie down, build a thick mattress using branches, moss, leaves and other natural items. Once you are on the mattress, you can use more moss and leaves as a blanket but make sure something colorful is noticeable in case a someone looking for you walks nearby.
Attract attention. Put out something bright or make something that will draw attention to where you are. Hang white paper or tie a hair ribbon on a tree limb. Put a shiny coin in a place where a rescuer might see it. Spell "Help" or "SOS" on the ground using rocks and sticks, or create a large arrow on the ground pointing to where you are. Make anything that will attract attention.
Help rescuers find you. If you hear someone or something coming, make a noise. If the noise is an animal, it will run away. If the noise is someone looking for you, the person will come to you. Never run in the direction of the noise. If your waiting place is near an open space like a meadow and you hear an aircraft coming, you should go to the open place, lay down and wave your arms and legs. This will help searchers see you better from the air. Stand up immediately after the aircraft passes so you won't get cold from lying on bare ground.
Be careful of what you put in your mouth. Do not eat anything you are unsure of. Wild berries, fruit and mushrooms may make you sick. If you must have drinking water, lick dew off forest leaves.
Stay calm and don't worry. Take comfort in knowing that people are looking for you.
(The information on what to do when lost was based on "Child Survival: Lost in the Woods" by Wake County Public Safety and the Wake County Emergency Management Division.)
