Wilderness Safety
Hug-a-Tree and Survive
A free program that teaches children how not to become lost in the woods, and what to do if they are.
Hug-a-Tree and Survive teaches children how not to become lost in the woods, and what to do should they become lost. The San Diego Mountain Rescue Team presents the program free of charge to schools, scout groups, and community organizations.
The four rules
1. Tell someone before you go
Always let a trusted adult know where you are going, who you are going with, and when you will be back.
2. If you are lost, stay put
Find a landmark — an actual tree, a large rock, any fixed point — and stay with it. A child who stays in one place is found far faster than one who keeps moving. This is the heart of the program, and the reason for its name.
3. Keep warm and dry
Dress for temperature changes, stay dry, and use layers or a simple improvised shelter. Hypothermia, not hunger or thirst, is what kills lost children.
4. Help searchers find you
Make noise — a whistle is best. Leave footprints and clues where searchers can see them. Nobody will be angry with you. Hundreds of people may be out looking, and every one of them will be glad to see you.
Where the program came from
In 1981, nine-year-old Jimmy Beveridge became separated from his family on Palomar Mountain, northeast of San Diego. He was found four days later, dead of hypothermia, near a tree.
Border Patrol tracker Ab Taylor and others built Hug-a-Tree and Survive in response, so that no other family would go through it. The program spread internationally after 1999, and in 2005 Taylor transferred its rights to the National Association for Search and Rescue, which now carries it nationwide.