Autistic teen lost on wilderness hike

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/15/missin ... index.html

Luckily this area is only 4 sq miles, as far as the search area, so thats not alot, hopefully he will be found ok and increasing tems through the week should aid the rescue.

I have in the past traveled miles into the adirondack wilderness, alone, never told anyone where I was and brought minimum supplies (never expected to get lost)

Boy is that stupid!! I have all this emergency gear and I never use it, from now on ill be making changes and being more cautious.

Anyone doin these things should do the same, a little preperation goes a long way!

I will probably make sure to bring safety gear next time I hike as well.

Tim

Oh no! I hope they find him soon!

Only 4 square miles?? They'll find him in no time at all. I just hope he isn't hurt.

According to this aritcle the area is 10 sq.mi.

It'll probably be raining out there tomorrow sometime which will make it much harder for him. Hopefully he can manage on the water sources and few edible things are out there till he is found.

I'm a tad obsessive about bringing gear on hikes, probably more than I need usually but I feel better for it. However I also don't usually stray too far civilization.

Provided he is still within that four square miles. People who are lost are rarely so careful as to deliberately stay within the search area. There as one young man whose remains [they think, since there were only bits of bone left and his rifle] were found ten miles outside the search area the following Spring. I do hope they find the boy though.

If he's in good shape like the article mentioned, he could still be alive without water this long... he probably won't be moving around much by now if he hasn't rehydrated.

Just for your information...

Shelter is generally more important than food and water for the first several days.
Exposure, aside from serious injury, gets more lost people into serious trouble than anything else.

Your basic needs in a survival situation are:
shelter
water
signaling
food

I use the term shelter to mean the maintaining of a healthy body temp., and protection from other things.
Shelter can be as simple as the wind jacket this young man was wearing, to something more elaborate such as a brush shelter you build.

Water is important in any environment and any temperature.

A means of signaling rescuers is always easy to bring along.

Food is over-rated for the most part. Certain situations make food pretty important, like prolonged exposure to cold-weather.
Just bear in mind that any food intake needs water to go along with it.

One of the most important things you can do before traveling into the bush is to leave behind details of where you are going to be or expect to go, how long you'll be gone, when someone should start looking for you, what color or type of clothing you are wearing (aids the search party), any pertinent medical history.

The state troopers in Alaska had a really great form you filled out and left behind in a conspicuous place at home or with a friend, with all the information necessary for a search party to help find you sooner.
I always gave out this form to my students when I was teaching survival.

If people would quit looking at survival as a "fight between man and nature" , and just concentrate on their basic life needs, I think more folks would make it out of these situations alive and in good shape.
Now, this young man does have the additional element of being "severely autistic", as his parents were quoted in the article.

Hopefully he will be found safe & sound.

If they do this type of hiking every year, the parents should think of investing in a gps/tracking service for their son.

How scary! I hope they find him soon!

He was found alive today.

More info can be found here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21366794/

ya, awsome, 4 days, and no preperation. He must know a little about survival, well... maby its instinct too a certain degree also.

glad hes ok/

It doesn't take a lot to lie down and not move.

I'm not saying the guy didn't do anything to keep himself alive, but four days without food and water is doable especially if you don't keep moving around expending energy.
Conserve it to keep yourself warm.

I am glad he was finally found though.

He moved around enough to be tired and hungry. He was dressed well and apparently there was water around for him to drink.

You're right, although emotional stress can create those feelings also.
His parents were quoted as saying he was wearing a wind jacket, which will provide some relief from the elements, but if his metabolism runs high enough, he might not have gotten as cold as some folks do.

Too much to answer... not enough info to go on.

Just glad he made it out alive.

Every year we seem to have mushroom pickers who get lost and wind up dying.
Really no reason for it if the person prepares like what others have said they do here.