• Alternate route if heavy rain

Hypothermia
occurs within catchment areas
• Warm the individual up slowly
• Do not cross flooded rivers or
creeks • Cover patient with blankets

Hazards
Conditions/Warning Signs: • Remove wet clothing and replace
with dry warm clothes
River Crossing
• Build a fire to create extra warmth
•

•
Flooded catchment areas
Heavy rain Useful Links in the
•

•
Constant rain
Fast flowing
Bushfires- https://
www.bushwalkingnsw.org.au/
Outdoors
rivers/creeks
bushfires/
What to do:
Weather Hazards- https://
River Crossing www.bushwalkingnsw.org.au/
• Change to an weather-hazards/
alternate route if the
Lightning- https://www.weather.gov/ Have fun by
river is flooded or wait
for the water to subside media/owlie/
backcountry_lightning.pdf
staying safe
• Avoid areas damaged
by recent flooding CFS Fact Sheets- https://
www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/resources/
fact_sheet_library.jsp
Extreme Heat & Cold- https://
bushwalkingvictoria.org.au/extreme
-heat
Travis Burns & Shaun
Flinders University Hammerling
HLPE3532
Introduction to Education in Wednesday Tutorial
Outdoor Environments 18/07/2018
 Lightning What to do: Hyperthermia
• Don’t sit in contact with group members • Significant rise in body temperature
Preventative Strategies: • Avoid high ground, caves, overhanging • Dry, hot skin with no sweat (mild)
• View weather forecast prior to cliffs or isolated objects within a clearing • Nausea, slurred speech, rapid
journey • Use your rucksack as an insulator by sit- breathing and racing heart (severe)
• Efficient prior planning in prep. for ting on top of it What to do:
this situation • Assume the lightning position
Bushfire
• Avoiding high ground and • Stay away from areas of drainage and wa-
open fields • Avoid the bushfires path
ter flow such as gullies, and depressions
• Limit contact/ • Stay away from dense vegetation as
• Remove yourself from an open field
exposure to tall much as possible
objects Bushfire—Heat • Avoid water tanks
Conditions/ (Hyperthermia) • Find open clearings such as wide
Warning Signs: tracks and find a safe exit path away
Preventative Strategies:
• Fast moving cold front Hyperthermia
• Use minimal flammable objects
• Thunder • Cool down the patient ASAP
• Utilise safe minimal impact strategies
• Sudden burst of clouds • Apply ice packs to areas such as the
• Drink plenty of water (hyperthermia)
and rain groin, neck, back and armpits
• Wear appropriate clothing for weath- • Immersion in cold water
• A significant change in
er conditions (hyperthermia)
wind direction • Remove unnecessary excess cloth-
Conditions/ ing
Warning Signs:
Bushfire
River Crossing
• Smoke/burning smell
(Hypothermia)
• Dead & burnt flora and fauna Preventative Strategies:
• Extreme heat • Check with local authorities if bridges
have been damaged by floods
• Severe—Catastrophic Fire Days
• Create a route plan with limited river
• High humidity
crossings