KC Counts talks with Vic Villalobos, president of Mesilla Valley Search and Rescue, about how to stay safe while enjoying the outdoors this Spring and Summer. Here is a portion of their conversation:
KC:
What would you say is the number one reason that people need to be rescued?
Vic:
You know, nowadays it seems like it's an injury and by injury I also mean like lack of water, lack of resources. So, and you know, especially here a great example is this morning. It's great, right? It's a beautiful morning out, maybe even a light jacket at 6:30 this morning.
KC:
I will say we are having this conversation on Friday, April 18th, Good Friday and yes, it is a beautiful morning, but it's going to get windy and gusty and dusty at some point.
Vic:
It is. It is, and if you didn't expect. If you weren't prepared for that, going out right, especially if you're in any of the desert areas, you can run out of water pretty quick and so that can also cause injury obviously. And so we see a lot of people that have gone off trail or they're out in the desert and they just didn't have enough to come back, right, because once you get dehydrated, if you keep pushing, you're going to get yourself just into a really bad situation.
KC:
How do you recommend that people pack the correct amount of water.
Vic:
You know, you should really, if you're out for a day, you should have a couple of gallons of water with you. Even more so.
KC:
That's heavy, Vic.
Vic:
It is heavy, it is, and if you're hiking with your dog, remember you need to take water for them too. You definitely want some snacks, right? Cause that can also affect you if you're not not keeping up your nutrition while you're out there and, you know, dress appropriately, right? You want to be sure you have, you know, I can't tell you how many sprained ankles we've had because someone just wears their vans tennis shoe, right, to go out on a hike and and you don't have the right support in your ankles and you twist that ankle. So of course, because of what we do, you know how we, you know, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. So, pack the things you'll need. One of the big things we recommend now is that you have your phone, but people tend to also, even lost people and people that are injured, they still like to get on and text their friends and post photos and do stuff while they're out there waiting for us and next thing you know, their phone’s dying and we were communicating with them. So one, we asked the people, you know, save your phone, right, save your energy, but carry - now you can buy those little extra battery packs, you know, some of them are or the size of a credit card, a little bigger than a credit card, and you keep that with you and that gives you a whole other charge for your phone. And that can make a huge difference.
KC:
Let's talk about the heat. We've talked about water. Of course, that's most likely the number one way to combat heat if you're out. But it's getting to be that time of season where we're going to start seeing those triple digit temperatures and probably just avoid hiking after what, 10 or 11 AM?
Vic:
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. You know, you really don't want to be out once it hits in the high 90s to 100. You are going to have a difficult time hydrating yourself.
KC:
I think we're just learning more and more often about really how deadly heat is.
Vic:
It really is. It is and and at that point you you're almost, you know, not only do you have to have water, you've got to be pumping in the electrolytes. You gotta be, you know, your body is just losing a lot at that point.
