| Description |
Recreation in wilderness areas is growing in popularity. Wilderness Search and Rescue (SAR) groups are also seeing an increase in how many rescues are performed each year. Multiple potential risk factors have been studied in hopes to understand what might predispose someone to require Search and Rescue assistance, but more research needs to be done to explain this behavior. The following research will aim to identify the risk factors in Salt Lake County (SLCo) SAR victims from 2011 to 2013. It will also clarify what the risk is for trekking alone, and how it compares to other commonly studied risk factors. Retrospective analysis was preformed of public SLCo SAR reports from 2011-2013. Analysis includes measures of central tendency for age, time of year, and solo travel. Frequency analysis was performed for gender, activity, location of residence, and chief complaint. An observational trailhead study of trekkers who were traveling alone or with a partner/group from June through September during 2013 is compared to the retrospective analysis. From 2011 to 2013, mean age of SLCo SAR victims was 33.2 (SD ± 15.5). There were 102 males (67.1%) and 45 females (29.6%). The most common activity was hiking (65.1%). The majority were residents of SLCo (80.9%). Mean time of SAR page was 4:43 pm (SD ± 4.7 hrs). Thirty victims were alone (19.7%). Of the victims that were with a partner or group, at least one other person in the group required assistance from SAR 60.6% of the time. An independent group t-test revealed that solo backcountry travelers (M = 42.9, SD ± 18.28) differed from partner/group (M = 30.8, SD ± 13.71) victims with age as the dependant variable, t (df) = 37.77, p = .003. There was no significance in risk between partner/group travel and alone travel. Age did influence, but gender did not, whether solo victims called for help. SLCo SAR victim demographics are similar to National Park victims. This research will be the first published for county SAR and the similarity to National Park victims shows that there is value in county SAR research and it should be studied more in the future. Travelling in the backcountry alone may not be as dangerous as previously accepted. Solo travel as a safe practice could change how people view the risks of backcountry travel. Lack of preparedness is probably the most significant risk factor for SAR victims as other commonly studied risk factors only show what demographic uses the backcountry for recreation. |
