The Outdoor Safety Institute will be at both the Wilderness Risk Management Conference (WRMC) and the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education (AORE) national conference. We'll be offering risk management workshops & have our booth setup at the conferences.

DeLorme has a new partnership with the reliable Iridium satellite network to offer a two-way satellite GPS communicator. The highlight of the "inReach" device is the ability to both send and receive text messages when paired with an Android smartphone or DeLorme GPS device. It also offers tracking of users and maps.

In the outdoor education and recreation field we often speak of leadership, but far less often about followership. That may be a mistake. Check out Brenda Porter's article from the Colorado Mountain Club for more.

Petzl has issued a warning regarding counterfeit climbing gear. These products may fail under far lower loads than authentic Petzl products. Please inform climbers and outdoor programs of these important concerns. Also consider where you buy gear.

Climbing equipment inspection & retirement resources. We review extensive free resources provided by Petzl that are useful for institutional climbing programs.

What is the primary emergency communication device for your program?  See what the Outdoor Safety Institute recommends…

One of your participants is in a "life or limb" emergency situation, you or your field staff stabilize the situation as best as possible but know that this person needs to get to the hospital.  Do you have an emergency communication device?  What is it?   How do you use it?  What is your back-up plan?

The ongoing discussion about requiring climbers in various locations to carry specific communication devices and climbers paying for rescue is discussed in a great article put out by the NorthWest Mountaineering Journal.  Details after the link.