Are you really ready for the great outdoors?

[five_alarm]

COQUITLAM - The sun shines, the trails beckon. But are you ready to head for the hills? Likely not, says Ian MacDonald, a physician and search manager for Coquitlam Search and Rescue (SAR), which is hosting a free wilderness safety course this month with HEROS, an emergency preparedness program. Beginner and intermediate hikers make a number of mistakes when they start out, MacDonald says. And in many instances, their errors can have serious - and even fatal - consequences. "What we see all the time are novices completely unprepared," MacDonald says. "They have no [extra] clothing, no water, no flashlight, no compasses, no map - no nothing." It's never one thing that goes wrong but "a series of bad decisions," he says.

Source: Tricitynews.com (http://www.firehall.com/refer.php?url=http://www.tricitynews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=74()cat=23()id=219542()more=&linkid=541&parent=news(headlines)&)