LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — In part four of this desert survival series, 8 News Now talked with Lynn Kasch with Red Rock Search and Rescue about what you should bring with you. And we focus on how one practical item just about all of us have can really play a role in helping us out should we have an injury on the trail.
“This is actually a small exercise mat,” Kasch told 8 News Now. “A lot of hikers carry those mattresses they sleep on, but if you don’t do that, I carry this because if I needed to sit down on the desert floor where it’s hot and rocky or whatnot, something to put my knees on, but I could also use this if you have a fracture, you’ve fallen with your arm extended like this, you’ve got a break right here, I can take this and I can wrap it around like this, and I can take an ACE wrap and it’s created a splint. An artificial kind of a splint like that. So this is all part of what we call improvisation, when you have this, we also like to have the arm immobilized like this, a sling would be really helpful, but I don’t have a sling, but what I have in my pocket is a safety pin, and what I can do with this, I can take your shirt, and I can wrap it up like this, and I can safety pin your shirt to the front of your shirt, and now you have a sling.”
Point your camera at the QR code below to learn how you can help Red Rock Search and Rescue.
Tune in to 8 News Now at 6 each night this week for more tips on enjoying and surviving the Mojave Desert.
