My food has run out – help is still days away

What is happening

Step by step

1. 1

   Phase 1

   Straight away

   • Count the remaining supplies and divide them openly – including small items such as sugar, tea and stock cubes.
   • Tell rescuers via the emergency number or agreed contacts that food has run out, especially if children, pregnant people or the sick are present.
   • Secure the water supply and set a drinking plan – this is now more important than food.
   • Reduce energy use: no unnecessary walking, rests out of the wind, put on warm clothing early.
2. 2

   Phase 2

   The first days

   • Only gather what you know without any doubt and whose poisonous look-alikes you can rule out – e.g. stinging nettle, dandelion, blackberry, raspberry, hazelnut.
   • Do not eat mushrooms at all unless you are a trained expert – deadly species look very similar to edible ones.
   • Always wash what you gather thoroughly and cook it where possible; in areas with fox tapeworm, eat things gathered close to the ground only when cooked.
   • By water, fish with a line or improvised hook if it is a genuine emergency; always cook fish thoroughly.
   • Insects and worms provide protein; eat them only cooked, and avoid brightly coloured, hairy or stinging ones.
3. 3

   Phase 3

   If it takes longer

   • Fixed daily structure: rest in the midday heat or the cold, short gathering rounds close to camp.
   • Traps only if you can build them correctly, it is a genuine threat to life and you check them regularly; afterwards dismantle every trap completely.
   • Lean meat alone does not cover energy needs – fat and carbohydrates (nuts, roots) are just as important.
   • Watch for warning signs: dizziness on standing up, confusion, extreme weakness – then call the emergency number again.
   • Look after morale: small goals, celebrate successes, talk to each other.
4. 4

   Phase 4

   After the rescue

   • After a long period of hunger, eat again slowly and in small portions; after more than a few days without food, seek medical advice.
   • If you have symptoms after eating wild plants, mushrooms or shellfish, contact a doctor or poison centre and say what was eaten.
   • Remove traps, cords and leftovers from the terrain completely.
   • Think about what should go into your emergency rations in future.

What to watch out for

• Poisonous look-alikes

  Wild garlic and lily of the valley or autumn crocus, cow parsley and hemlock, bilberry and deadly nightshade: many deadly plants look like edible ones. When in doubt, never eat. The often quoted “universal edibility test” does not protect against deadly poisonous plants.

• Yew

  Yew looks vaguely like spruce and fir but almost all parts are deadly poisonous. For needle tea use only spruce or pine that you can identify with certainty.

• Shellfish and algal blooms

  Shellfish can accumulate algal toxins that cooking does not destroy. Do not gather during algal blooms, in discoloured water or near sewage outfalls.

• Raw meat and wildlife diseases

  Wild meat can transmit Trichinella or tularaemia. Work with gloves or a cloth, wash hands, always cook meat and fish thoroughly. Never eat animals found dead.

• Law and animal welfare

  Fishing without a licence and trapping without hunting rights are prohibited in Austria and Germany. In genuine danger to life, necessity may play a role – but that does not replace the everyday rules and never justifies cruelty to animals.

Special consideration

Children

Children have fewer reserves and like to put berries in their mouths. Give supplies to them first and say clearly: eat nothing without asking.

Diabetes and other conditions

Anyone taking insulin or blood-sugar-lowering medication can become dangerously hypoglycaemic without food. Reserve glucose for this person and mention it in the emergency call.