Re: Led astray by their GPS

Rita Chretien's wilderness survival amazing — but not unbelievable, experts say
By Douglas Quan, Postmedia News May 13, 2011 Comm

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But wilderness survival experts say while Chretien's case is extraordinary, it is not unprecedented. The human body has an amazing ability to adapt to sudden change, they say. It's just that few of us realize it.

"We spend so much of our lives having our needs taken care of, we don't really suffer anymore. We're always in these controlled environments," said Sarah Brown, a wilderness survival instructor at Mount Royal University in Calgary.

"People have lost touch with their relationship with the land. They don't realize what their capacities are."

Whether marooned on the ocean, caught in a blizzard or stranded at the bottom of a ravine, those who have lived through harrowing, stuck-in-the-middle-of-nowhere scenarios share common traits: They made smart choices and never lost the "will to survive."

Experts say in order to make smart choices, you first have to remain calm. Panicking will only lead to poor decisions.

Next, take stock of what's around you and what you have. In the case of Rita Chretien and her husband, Al, who apparently were led astray by their GPS device and ended up driving into the mud, it doesn't appear they were ever in any immediate peril.

The weather was neither extremely cold nor extremely hot. They had a water source (from a nearby stream), a bit of food (trail mix, candy) and shelter (their 2000 Chevy Astro Van).

Believe it or not, some people have lasted for several days without water and several weeks — about 60 days — without food, said Gordon Giesbrecht, a professor at the University of Manitoba who studies human responses in extreme environments.

The next step is to plan: do you stay or go? The general rule of thumb is to stay put and wait to be found but there may be occasions when you have to bail — if, for example, there is an imminent threat of death and there's no chance of immediate rescue.

According to Giesbrecht, the key questions to ask yourself are: How long do you expect it'll take for someone to initiate a search and find you? How long do you expect to be able to survive by staying put? How far do you have to travel to get help? Are you certain you know where to go and that you can make it there?


http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Rita+Chretien+wilderness+survival+amazing+unbelievable+experts/4782076/story.html

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KenS
Rita Chretien's wilderness survival amazing — but not unbelievable, experts say
By Douglas Quan, Postmedia News May 13, 2011 Comm

But wilderness survival experts say while Chretien's case is extraordinary, it is not unprecedented. The human body has an amazing ability to adapt to sudden change, they say. It's just that few of us realize it.
......The weather was neither extremely cold nor extremely hot. They had a water source (from a nearby stream), a bit of food (trail mix, candy) and shelter (their 2000 Chevy Astro Van).

What is unbelievable is that anyone would consider this extraordinary or somehow inexplicable. Water and warmth were the critical essential elements. 7 weeks without water would really be noteworthy however.

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
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