Responding to searchers: answer, stay put, be visible

Search teams work through an area systematically, section by section. They call, blow whistles and then deliberately pause to listen for answers. Some searches are supported by dogs, drones or helicopters. The calmer, more visible and more audible the missing person is, the faster they are found.

A person who stays in one place is much easier to find than one who moves. Someone wandering around may stray into a section that has just been searched, or into dangerous terrain. Staying put is therefore usually the best support you can give the searchers.

Whistle and light carry further than the voice and cost less energy. Three signals in a row are widely recognised as a distress signal. But the most important thing is to answer at all – even a single shout or blast is better than silence.

As soon as you realise you are lost: stop and stay in a safe place, ideally at the edge of a clearing or on a path where you can be seen from several sides. Lay out bright clothing, a cloth or a colourful pack. Keep a lamp ready at night.

Signal at intervals: three blasts, pause, listen, repeat. Do not signal non-stop, or you will not hear the answers and will wear yourself out. The whistle belongs around your neck or in a jacket pocket, not deep in your pack.

When you hear calls, whistles or engines or see light, answer at once and keep signalling until the searchers reach you. Do not leave your spot to go towards them if you cannot place the direction reliably. In forests and valleys, sounds bounce off slopes and mislead you about where they come from.

Staying put is only right if the place is safe. If there is a risk of rockfall, water is rising or you are exposed to the cold without any shelter, first move to a safe spot nearby. Then settle there and keep signalling.

Waiting makes you cold. Keep warm, do not sit directly on cold ground, put on every layer and find shelter from the wind. Prepare your signals so that you can give them from your sheltered spot without having to go back out into wind and rain again and again.

If you have signal, call the local emergency number (112 in the EU) first. If you are in contact with the dispatcher, follow their instructions. They may, for example, ask you to switch on your light when a helicopter approaches, or to wait at a particular place.

Children who are lost sometimes hide from searchers. They are afraid of getting into trouble, feel embarrassed or have learned not to talk to strangers. That is why it is so important to talk to them about it beforehand.

Programmes for children, such as ‘Hug-a-Tree’, practise exactly this behaviour: if you get lost, stay by a tree, blow your whistle and answer when someone calls. Tell your child clearly that they may answer people in rescue clothing, firefighters or police even if they do not know them, and that nobody will scold them.

Give your child their own whistle and practise together, for example as a game in the forest or park: who finds whom if one stays put and whistles? A child who has experienced this once is more likely to know what to do in a real emergency.

For a search to happen at all, someone must know where you are going and when you meant to be back. That is why a trip plan left with a reliable contact belongs to every outing into remote areas.

Waiting is psychologically hard. After a while many people feel a strong urge to set off after all. It helps to give yourself small tasks: improve your spot, lay out signals, whistle and listen at fixed intervals. That way you stay calm and able to act.

Survival and scouting handbooks consistently give lost people the same advice: stay put, signal and answer calls. This entry explains how to behave as the person being searched for; organising a search is the job of the rescue services.