| While the curriculum activities were designed for southeastern Alaska, Garza notes that they could easily be adapted for other parts of the country. |
It is every parent's nightmare; a child is lost in the woods or on the water. Will the child survive, potentially for days, until rescuers find them?
The Alaska Sea Grant Program is helping prepare the state's students for just such an outdoor emergency by offering a two-volume curriculum on "Survival Training for Alaska's Youth."
"We want our kids to spend a lot of time outside," says Dolly Garza, a marine advisory agent with the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, "but that means they have a chance of being lost... Our premise is if they learn survival skills young, they won't forget them."
While the curriculum activities were designed for southeastern Alaska, Garza notes that they could easily be adapted for other parts of the country.
Geared for 5th through 7th graders, Garza says the curriculum has successfully been used to teach students in kindergarten through the 12th grades, as well as within informal education programs, such as Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. During the two-day training, kids are taught skills that increase their chances of survival if they find themselves in an emergency situation while boating, hunting, or hiking.
Garza often gives the training but is unable to fill every request. She wrote the curriculum to be like a "cookbook that teachers could open and start using." Teachers who buy the instructor manual for $8 are supplied with up to 25 student manuals free of charge.
The curriculum, which is in its second printing, is a compilation of safety and survival materials from several sources. Covering the seven steps to survival developed by the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association, the program includes in-class lectures and accompanying activities, water exercises, and an outdoor field trip where kids put their newly learned skills to the test.
"It's a blast! Kids absolutely love this program," Garza says.
She adds, "If we are promoting people being out on the water or on the coastline we need to make sure they're safe, as well."
To order "Outdoor Survival Training for Alaska's Youth," log on to http://www.uaf.edu/seagrant/bookstore/Pubs.html. For more information on the curriculum, contact Dolly Garza at (907) 247-4978, or ffdag@uaf.edu.
Seven Steps to Survival
If you find yourself in an outdoor emergency, follow these seven steps:
- Recognition that you're in trouble. It is important to be ready and to take action before it is too late.
- Inventory of what you and your partners have, including skills and items in your pockets that may help.
- Shelter, which includes planning the right clothing for your outdoor activity before you leave. Once you are in an emergency, quickly find protection from the environment to prevent hypothermia, one of the primary causes of death in survival situations.
- Signals that can help search parties find you. To be effective, signals must attract attention and convey a message of distress.
- Water from a clean source. You can only survive a few days without finding a clean source of water.
- Food from wild plants or animals. Before venturing out, learn a few foods that can be found in the area in any season.
- Play is important to avoid depression, which destroys the will to survive. It is important to keep a positive mental attitude.
