My Tramping Incidents Inquiry
What Can Further Be Done To Mitigate The Deleterious Effects Of Being Lost Or Getting Into Trouble In The NZ Native Bush?
By Max William Auld
Introduction
What Can Further Be Done To Mitigate The Deleterious Effects Of Being Lost Or Getting Into Trouble In The NZ Native Bush? I have chosen this topic because I am into the bush and tramping. I also do Youth Search And Rescue. It is an organization that teaches teenagers how to stay safe in the NZ bush. They also teach search and rescue, and how to find people if they get lost in the bush. Click Here for more information about YSAR.
This inquiry report will explain about, getting lost in the NZ native bush. It will provide numerical data on people that get lost in the bush. It will describe how people get lost in the bush. Why do people get lost in the bush? What causes people to get lost in the bush, do we need to educate more people about the bush or do something about the amount of people getting lost in the bush? I will then have a PMI analysis on some options we could use to lessen the chances of people getting lost or getting into trouble in the New Zealand native bush.
How do People get Lost or get into Trouble in the New Zealand Native bush?
There are many ways people can get lost or get into trouble in the bush, when I interviewed my expert Aaron Power he told me “a lot of people get into trouble in the bush because they don’t check the weather before they go for a walk or tramp for example - “Hey it's a sunny day I’ll just go out for a one hour walk in the bush”, and then all of a sudden their lost and have to spend the night in the bush with nothing other than a pair of shorts and a short sleeve top. Other ways people get lost in the bush are not able to read maps so they don’t know where they're going, poor signage, their unfit and don’t know what their capabilities are. (Here is what my expert said ⇑). They do not have the right gear so maybe not enough food or warm clothes, misjudging distances, intention to surroundings, traveling in tricky terrain, following a game trail instead of the track”… All of these things are really easy to do. Here is what my expert said ⇑.
Here is an example of an article I read in a news document-“The kids had gone into the bush just to play. Three of them came back and two of them wandered off and got disorientated”, said the father of one of the children. From experience, I think it is very easy to get disorientated in the bush, especially if you are travelling in thick bush or tricky terrain. You could have been going around in circles and have no idea where you are or where you came from.
Who are the People that Get Lost in the New Zealand Bush?
When I interviewed my expert Aaron Power. He said “the people that get lost in the bush are, inexperienced people like tourists, people that don’t go into the bush very often. People that are ill-prepared. He said that getting lost in the bush can happen to anyone even experienced people.”
Here is some data on people getting lost in the bush between 2010 and 2016.
This chart shows the number of people who get lost in the bush each year. It only goes to 2016 as I could not find any more data, but from my research and knowledge, I would predict that the number of people going missing would keep rising as more and more people go tramping each year. So if we could do something more to prevent more people from getting lost then I think that would be great. As you can see the chart has rapidly increased from 2010 all the way to 2015, from there it has thinned out, but is still going up.
This chart shows how people get into trouble in the bush, as you can see many people slip while tramping others twist their ankle/knee. Tripping, sliping, falling or twisting an ankle are really easy to do. This happens to lots of people they either have to be carried out of the bush or even in worse case scenarios helicopterd out. These things are a lot of effort for the search and rescue organisations. Most likely because someone did’t look at the weather or didn’t know their own capabilities.
My Expert: YSAR instructor, Aaron Power
How can we mitigate the harmful effects of being lost or getting into trouble in the NZ native bush?
We can never totally stop people from getting lost in the bush, but if the people that don’t have much experience learn more then there might not be as many people getting lost in the bush.
Pluses
Minuses
Interesting Points
Make more online learning options for better skills.
you can just go into the web page and read all u need to know
people might still not pay attention and therefore get lost
It is an easy and efficent way to learn about bush safety.
Have more signs at the start of the track to warn people
you know how hard the track is and if you will be able to do it.
it could not explain everything about the track.
It still might not show deadfulls or trees down.
Create learning workshops run in outdoor stores
you get to socialize and learn life-saving skills.
you might have to drive distances to get to the program
there would be very experienced people to teach.
Make more online learning options for better skills.
Have more signs at the start of the track to warn people
Create learning workshops run in outdoor stores
time
2
3
4
price
2
3
3
efficiency
2
2
2
people affected
3
1
2
environmental impact
1
3
3
Total
10
12
14
This here is my PMI analysis, I have chosen 3 options I have come up with in my research that can lessen the number of people getting lost in the New Zealand bush. They are: 1. Make more online learning platforms or websites for better learning about the bush. 2. Have more signs at the start of the track to warn more people about the hike or walk their about to do. 3. Create learning workshops run in outdoor stores like Macpac, Bivouac or Kathmandu Out of these three things I analyzed them and asked my expert. I eventually came up with a suitable solution which is the second option, Have more signs at the start of the track to warn more people about the hike or walk theirs about to do. Although this was the best option I think that we could do all of these things to lessen the amount of people getting lost in the New Zealand bush.
https://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/learn/skills/emergency/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_and_rescue
https://www.trailhiking.com.au/safety/what-to-do-if-you-get-lost-hiking/
My expert Aaron Power
Thesis
This here is my thesis statement. It is a statement I have come up with, a solution to my fertile question. ‘What can further be done to mitigate the deleterious effects of being lost or getting into trouble in the NZ native bush? That statement is “We have to put more signs at the start of each track to warn people of the walk their about to do.”
Conclusion
In this Inquiry report I have explained the big problem of getting lost and into trouble in the New Zealand bush. I have come up with 3 solutions. I analysed them in a PMI analysis and found that if we can place more signs at the start of each track. So then the trampers know what they're walking into and hopefully know their limits. Then they can turn back if they don’t think they can manage it. So if we can have more signage at the start of the hikes in NZ then people will not get lost as easily.
Bibliography
I have used mybib.com for my bibliography.
“Hell of a relief”: Father speaks out about son’s frightening night lost in Southland bush. (2023, August 8). NZ Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/father-speaks-out-about-eight-year-old-sons-frightening-night-lost-in-southland-bush/NTPUDMZGQBGOZE23FZEESTGX5U/
Claire, R. (2020, April 14). We Spoke to Explorers Who Got Lost in the Bush. We Are Explorers. https://weareexplorers.co/getting-lost-in-the-bush/
DO OR DIE: LOST IN THE BUSH. (n.d.). Www.ngataonga.org.nz. Retrieved August 8, 2023, from https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F56714/
Elwin, E. (2022, June 9). 9 Great Tips for Kids to Survive in the Bush. Out & about with Kids. https://www.outandaboutwithkids.com.au/9-tips-to-survive-in-the-bush/
Hayward, M. (2018, June 22). Our great outdoors: 5 deaths, 500 rescues, 4000 tramping injuries every year. Stuff. https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/104923204/extensive-report-delves-deep-into-kiwi-tramining-incident-data
How to avoid being lost in Wilderness? (2020, August 14). European Wilderness Society. https://wilderness-society.org/how-to-avoid-being-lost-in-wilderness/#:~:text=Few%20other%20common%20reasons%20are
https://www.facebook.com/LandSARNewZealand. (2023). Preventing Outdoor Incidents in New Zealand. Https://Www.landsar.org.nz/. https://www.landsar.org.nz/prevent/
https://www.facebook.com/longwhitegypsy. (2022, April 24). NZ Hiking Hazards - The Most Common Causes Of Death. Long White Gypsy. https://longwhitegypsy.com/nz-hiking-hazards/
MacWelch, T. (2018, October 19). 10 Reasons People Get Lost in the Wild. Outdoor Life. https://www.outdoorlife.com/10-reasons-people-get-lost-in-wild/#:~:text=The%20weather%20could%20hamper%20our
NZ Bushcraft Manual | Digital Version | 6th Edition 2021 by New Zealand Mountain Safety Council - Issuu. (2020, November 25). Issuu.com. https://issuu.com/nzmountainsafetycouncil/docs/msc_bushcraft_manual_-2020-digitise
Power, A. (2023, August 23). Inquiry #5 Expert Aaron Power Interview (M. Auld) [Letter].
Survival in an Emergency | Skills | NZMSC. (2023). Mountain Safety Council New Zealand. https://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/learn/skills/emergency/