Found!

This post is about Brennan Hawkins, the 11 year-old Boy Scout who was found alive and well after spending 4 days in the wilderness in Utah. I'm glad (and a bit surprised) that he was found alive.

This story drives home several points, key among them are: everyone who ventures beyond suburbia should know the basics of survival; that rules like "don't talk to strangers" must be presented with reasonable exceptions; planning beats luck...but luck is good.

The key to Brennan's survival here was pure luck - the weather was quite warm throughout the 4 days (and nights) he was missing. Had it been just a few degrees colder, or rainy, the outcome could well have been different.

The sheriff (I think) who organized the search made a critical mistake by assuming that Brennan would follow one of the basic survival rules - that travelling downhill, and especially following water downhill will bring you to civilization. Apparently, that was a lesson that Brennan had yet to learn, but the sheriff who assumed it would be followed made (in my opinion) as serious error of judgement in assuming it would be followed. Of course, I sit here with the clear perspective of 20/20 hindsight, that was something the sheriff did not have.

One very inexpensive survival tool that can be used by almost anyone is a garbage bag (and some training is necessary for kids - they must be instructed never to put their head into the bag). It can be easily made into a raincoat by making arm and head holes. Its impervious nature means it holds heat, critical when spending an overnight in the woods (or even an inclement day). Matches and candles are also very helpful, but I don't think they are appropriate for 11 year-olds. A pocket knife might have been helpful, but again, the age factor brings it into question. The item Brennan should have been carrying was a whistle, they're cheap, can be heard over long distances and you can't do any real damage with them. Had he had a whistle, once he realized he was lost, all it would have taken would have been the advice - if you're lost, blow this whistle and stay where you are and he'd have been recovered within an hour or so. To me, putting kids into the woods without a whistle is inexcusable.

Finally, it seems like Brennan had avoided people, there seems to be a story of his hiding from people on horseback. This could have cost him his life. Kids must be instructed that in an emergency (and lost in the woods is an emergency), you must make an exception to rules like "don't talk to strangers." I don't know is the riders were park rangers or other uniformed authorities or civilians, but clearly the risk of the woods is greater than that of people, regardless of whether they're authority figures.

I'm glad he's well, let's learn from his experience.

3rd AG!

I ran in a little race this afternoon. It was oppressively hot. I ran OK, though not great, putting up a 20:47 for the 5K. I help coach a kids running club, and we had brought a bunch of the kids to the race to let them see what the road race scene is like. Both the head coach (a woman) and I were there, and we run pretty even in most races, so, to some degree, it was a race for bragging rights.

My son, who runs for the club, had decided not to run, and I was unable to change his mind. I left him with a running friend, who had decided not to race, but was around because her husband was racing.

Mile 1 felt pretty good, and being a small race, by then, most of the "clueless" runners had already been weeded out. I went through in about 6:10, a tad faster than was probably wise. Mile 2 started to make me suffer. I went through in just under 13:00 (or about 6:50). At around 2 1/2, the other coach came up, whining a bit. I said something like, "just hold it together." And I had the feeling she did. Slightly beyond that, another running friend came by, running easy and looking fresh. (It later came out that he'd jogged through a morning race while his girlfriend raced it.)

The trip in to the finish, where my son would be waiting was pretty uneventful the rest of the way. When I went through the chute, I turned to look for the other coach, and she was nowhere to be seen. It turned out she'd finished essentially on my shoulder and had slipped past unseen. I was disappointed with my time of 20:47. Virtually nobody at the race ran what they regarded as a good time (though as an afternoon race, held in a heat wave, neither was anyone surprised).

After the race, I jogged a mile or so with the guy who'd passed me at 2 3/4 and his girlfriend. It turned out that she won the women's race this morning. (A testimony to the power of judicious race selection.) As we were doing this, we passed a guy on the ground getting medical attention.

We were surprised that the EMT's were not actively cooling him, but most EMT's get lots of training in trauma, and virtually none in heat injury. Cooling an athlete with ice or cool water applied to the armpits and neck can drop their body temperature quickly and prevent or reduce any real damage to the athlete. We wet him down, and the EMT's said they were going to move him to the air conditioned ambulance momentarily, so we contined on our way. He didn't seem "out of it", so I'm assuming he'll be OK.

We closed out the outward leg of our jog by cheering the final 3 participants, then headed for our cars to get dry shirts. Then, I collected up my son, who promptly disappeared again, hanging around with the other kids.

In talking to the other coach, I commented that I was surprised that she didn't come by me. She said that she feels badly about passing someone who she's keyed off of for a chunk of the race, unless there's an award in the balance. I told her that my attitude is it's a race, and if you can beat someone, you do. There's value to both arguments, but she knows that if I'm behind her late in a race, she'll be wearing a target. Meantime, the bragging rights now feel a bit hollow.

The other coach's time of 20:49 was good enough to take 2nd woman, so she wound up with a nice medal. I wound up with 3rd in my age group, so I got a "bronze" medal (for those of you who aren't runners, that's what the cryptic title of this meant). It was nice to get one, because, I often run in bigger races and so frequently finish 4th or 5th (or worse) in my age group (45-49). It was especially nice to have my son there to see me get it.

This award however pales by comparison to my big running achievement of the spring - qualifying to run the Boston Marathon. I'll enjoy having this ribbon, regardless of what happens at Boston, I can now fulfill a dream. This was one OK day - that was months of solid training. Still, it felt good to "get hardware."

Why You Need To Manage Your Health

I recently read a book by Ray D. Strand, M.D. titled Death By Prescription: The Shocking Truth Behind An Overmedicated Nation. This book talks about people dying from drug interactions, and makes the claim that (legal) drugs are the third leading cause of death in the U.S.A.

He discusses medications sensibly and intelligently, making the point of explaining the difference between a therapeutic dose and a toxic dose. He also explains (and this was something that I did not understand prior to reading this book) how our bodies metabolize drugs, and how that can be impacted by taking multiple drugs.

Some of the basic points are that:
1) Nobody has much financial interest in getting you to live a healthy life.
2) Pharmaceutical companies make a lot of money selling medications that could be better managed through lifestyle modification.
3) Testing of new drugs is often performed in healthy, unmedicated people; but problems usually won't show up until they are given to unhealthy people, especially those on other medications.

If you were to look at me before I chose to live a healthier life, you'd have seen an overweight guy on the verge of hypertension, with regular heartburn, and probably on the road to a heart attack (or at least atherosclerosis). So, I could have found myself taking daily doses of blood pressure medicine, anti-heartburn medicine, and anti-cholesterol medicine.

In the interest of getting to bed, I'll truncate this entry and add to it soon.

OK, I'm An Idiot (Or Really Smart)

I've never liked sunscreen and rarely use it. My wife scolds me regularly. A battle is beginning to rage over sun exposure. Why? Data is beginning to come in on relative risk of low vitamin D levels (stimulated by sun exposure) versus the increased skin cancer risk of more exposure.

I try to avoid being outside at peak sun times, and try to be covered/shaded when I am. But I don't like putting sunscreen on, so I don't use it except in very rare cases. Now, it looks like I may be vindicated (at least partially).

An article on NPR's website outlines the basics (or listen to the report by clicking the "listen" link): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4681956

D-Day Salute

One of the first things I heard today was the date, and I cannot hear "June sixth" without taking a moment to remember those who 61 years ago launched themselves onto French beaches (and the few who parachuted beyond) to protect our freedom and that of our allies.

Please take a moment to remember those who sacrificed their lives, and also those who lived on to fight another day, on foot, on ships and in support.

Freedom is not free.