December 15, 2009
Winter survival depends on staying well-prepared
by Dave Springer
I hope that this finds everyone healthy, happy, and full of the joys of the season. I hope that everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving and that you are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas, or whatever other holiday you choose to celebrate in your tradition at this time of year.
Although you wouldn't know it from the mid-forty-degree temperatures that we had recently, winter is upon us. When you go out hunting, ice fishing, or trapping are you taking survival equipment that can make the difference if you have a snow machine failure, get lost, or wet?
First of all, make sure that you are wearing proper clothing for the weather conditions-is your snow machine up to par? Do you have spare gasoline and oil, how about some minimal necessary tools? Make sure to take a compass, a mirror, some water, a space blanket, compact high energy foods, fire starter and waterproof matches, and a loud whistle.
Remember to always let someone responsible know where you are going, what route you are taking, and when to expect you back. Have a cell or satellite phone with you that has freshly charged batteries. Remember, however, that cell phones, by the nature of their design, do not work very far out of the villages. Your VHF radio will work on your 12 volt snow machine or ATV with an antenna designed to mount on fiberglass.
One important tidbit I am finding is that many of you are not aware of the fact that you should, and should is the operative word here, have 9-1-1 in your villages. The system went live on the first of October, 2009. It is a basic, not an enhanced 9-1-1 system. That means when you tell the dispatcher where you are, you must also tell them what village you are in. The display does not show your name and address at this time.
There are lots of glitches, but then here in the Delta we have lots of glitches in our normal phone systems on a daily basis. I know that Crooked Creek is not getting 9-1-1 calls out yet. The Bethel Police Department is aware of that and is working with the phone company. As of this time I am not aware of any other village-wide failures.
Please do not call 9-1-1 just to test it! If you try 9-1-1 and your call fails, fall back to your old methods of calling for help in your village. After you have gotten the situation resolved, then call Bethel dispatch at: 907-543-3781 to report that you tried to call 9-1-1 and that the call failed. Please try to remember what time you attempted the call. Dispatch will want that to pass on to the phone company. Please don't call the phone company directly.
Until next month, be safe, be healthy, and have fun. Oh, and call or e-mail me with any ideas you would like to see addressed here. dave_springer@ykhc.org. 907-543-6080.
