Facebook is full of misinformation. Rather than memes, hikers and motorists should use emergency expert advice.
If you’re lost or stranded, being able to communicate directly or, if necessary, indirectly, with potential rescuers can save your life. Use expert emergency advice. Unfortunately, too many hikers and motorists are unprepared for emergencies. Facebook is filled with misinformation. Too often, they take bad advice from Facebook memes, rather than good advice from professionals, about hiking and road trip emergencies they may encounter.
Recently, you probably read about a hiker on the Appalachian Trail who went missing in Shenandoah National Park and another who was lost in the Mount Elbert area of Colorado. I’m sure you’ve also read about the scores of stranded motorists stuck in winter snowstorms in the eastern United States in recent weeks.
Just because a Facebook meme is liked by millions doesn’t make it accurate.
There’s been a meme being reposted over and over again on Facebook recently that’s supposedly the “best tip” the poster “heard in a loooong time!” The meme has gotten millions of likes. The problem for lost hikers and stranded motorists is its advice is senseless, like much of the advice by memes on Facebook.
The meme states that if you’re lost or stranded and you notice that your mobile phone has no signal or little battery power remaining, you should change your voicemail greeting to a message that gives your approximate location, plus date, time and particulars about your situation. The meme postulates that even if your mobile phone dies or stops working, anyone calling your phone will still hear your message and get you help.
It may sound great, but the meme makes little or no sense whatsoever.
You can’t change a cellphone voicemail greeting unless you have a cellular service signal and can connect to your provider’s voicemail server.
The meme says that if you don’t have a signal you should change your voicemail greeting so those calling you will hear that you’re lost or stranded even though they can’t actually speak with you. The problem is that if your mobile phone doesn’t have a cellular signal you can’t change your voicemail greeting. Why? It’s because your cellphone voicemail greeting is stored in your cellular provider’s servers, not on your phone. If the greeting was stored on our phone instead of the provider’s server, any time your phone was off, in airplane mode or simply not accessible, it wouldn’t be available to anyone calling you. You’d likely miss messages regularly. With the greeting on the server, it’s accessible, even when your phone is not. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a cellular service signal, not only can’t you make a call, you can’t contact the server to change your greeting.
WiFi calling can work, but it’s unlikely you’ll find a WiFi network if lost while hiking or stranded on the side of a road.
Right now you might be asking, “What about WiFi calling?” WiFi calling would work, but it’s highly unlikely you’d encounter a WiFi network while hiking or while on the road, stranded. In addition, you’ll need the WiFi network password to use it, if the network is locked.
If you have a cellular or a useable WiFi signal, you can change your greeting as the meme suggests, but why bother? I agree with law enforcement and emergency service experts. Don’t wait for someone to call you to get help. Make an emergency call, 911 in the U.S., rather than change your greeting. While you’re able to call the police for help, do so.
Don’t use the last of your cellphone’s power to change your voicemail greeting. Use it to call police emergency services for immediate help.
The meme also says to change your voicemail greeting if your battery is low or close to dying, so you can get out information that you’re lost or stranded and where. Park rangers, law enforcement and public safety officials will tell you not to waste your time changing the greeting. If you have a signal strong enough and enough battery power to change your voicemail greeting then call the emergency number, 911 in the U.S., and give your information to the emergency operator instead.
If your battery is extremely low and might not last through a call, text the details of your emergency to a family member or friend or better yet, simultaneously to a family/friend group to ensure quick action, as texting takes less battery power than voice calls. Send your text to 911 too, as many 911 service centers are now text capable.
Once you communicate with an emergency service center, conserve your power to assist rescuers to find you quickly. They can triangulate via your phone’s signal to help locate you and can also use the various find-a-phone apps to help find you.
In addition to the meme’s misinformation, it’s missing important suggestions to help keep you safe.
Bring a smartphone on your hike or while on a road trip. You can use it to call for help and use its GPS capability to let rescuers know exactly where you are.
Smart preparation is important for hikers and motorists taking road trips, particularly during seasons in which you might encounter severe weather. The ability to communicate with potential rescuers if you’re lost or stranded may save your life. Whenever hiking or on a road trip, take a smartphone. Rather than the older style cellphones, smartphones have GPS capability. They can tell you exactly where you are, so you can tell rescuers. and if lost, help you get back on your own.
If you’re hiking in an area with poor or no cellular service, consider bringing a satellite phone with you.
If you’re hiking, find out whether you’re heading into an area with good cellular service or an area with little or no cellular service. Some great hiking locations, even in the U.S., have spotty or no cellular service on many trails and particularly in open areas. If the cellular service is good, your smartphone will serve you well if you have an emergency. If cellular service is spotty or non-existent, consider a satellite phone for emergency communications. They cover most of the globe, except at the poles. Satellite phones, like smartphones, have GPS capability to help you help rescuers locate you. You can get a prepaid or pay-as-you-go satellite phone plan.
Bring a capable portable battery-powered mobile phone charger so you’ll have plenty of power for your mobile phone during an emergency.
Don’t leave on a hike or road trip without a portable, battery-powered phone charger. The charger that I take for my smartphone on hikes, photowalks and road trips can fully charge it twice. I also have a portable battery-powered charger for a satellite phone when I use one.
Everyone should critically examine the advice we get from any source, especially in those ever-present Facebook memes. I’ve found that they’re rarely accurate. When planning a hike or road trip, follow the advice of experts if you becomes lost or stranded. If you can, call emergency services — 911 in the U.S. — early on to get the help you need as quickly as possible. Be sure you have a mobile phone you can use and a portable battery-powered charger to keep it going.
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After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
