Lost? Better hope you are found within 51 hours, study finds

[superconnected]

Source: Associated Press

ORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon has been the stage for a number of high-profile search and rescue missions in the past year. Now, Oregon researchers say they have developed a survival prediction model that could help rescue teams make the difficult decision of when to stop searching.
Emergency medicine researchers at Oregon Health and Science University looked at all 4,244 search and rescue missions initiated in Oregon from 1997 to 2003. They found time was the most important element in determining whether a person would be found alive - 99 percent of people found alive were found in the first 51 hours after being reported missing.

Little information exists to help searchers determine when to end a search and rescue mission, the researchers said. So they say this model could be used as another tool in planning search and rescue missions.

"This is not to say that all searches should be called-off after 51 hours," said Annette Adams, a research instructor in the OHSU Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine. "We believe this is a good first step in using statistical data to develop a rule to help search and rescue teams. With more data, we could use this method to develop a rule for when to abandon a search or change it to a recovery operation."



Read more: http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8565587.html

[CreekDog]

1. The rule of threes is one to keep in mind

You can survive:

Three weeks without food

Three days without water

Three hours without shelter!

Now, plan accordingly.

[Karla Marx]

2. Sadly, I could probably go a three months without food.

Didn't know that about water & shelter, though. Thanks!

[Solon]

5. Its actually quite hard to starve to death...

You die, usually, of vitamin deficiency and diseases related to a weakened immune system. Doesn't matter how fat you are, that's simply to store some nutrients and calories for times of less food, but was never meant to be a total replacement for food nourishment. 3 weeks without the right vitamins or minerals and you are dead, whether you weighed 100 pounds or 300 pounds.

[Tesha]

4. And... "Three minutes without air" (NT)

[soothsayer]

6. 3 hours without shelter----wouldn't that depend on the temp and stuff?

[swimmernsecretsea]

3. OK, great.

That means I have another demographic to fit into, or else I just get left on Gilligan's Island with the rest of the castaways. Lovely. Well, at least the Professor can make a satellite radio out of cocoanuts, so we can get Air America. Maryanne? Is that Cocoanut Cream Pie ready? I'm starving!