Children who are lost in the woods should stay put and stay warm.

That’s the advice from search-and-rescue workers, as well as “Hug-a-Tree and Survive,” a program designed to teach kids what to do if they lose their way in the mountains.
Ab Taylor and Tom Jacobs of California founded the program in 1981 after participating in a search on Palomar Mountain that failed to find a 9-year-old boy before he died of hypothermia.
Lynden teen Sam Rickenbacker’s fate was a happier one. Sam, 15, got lost during a Blanchard Mountain hike when he became separated from his Whatcom Family YMCA group. He found his way to Chuckanut Drive
Here’s what kids should do when they’re lost:
------ Stay put. -------
If you don’t move, then you can’t travel any farther from the place where you were last seen. The closer you stay, the easier the search. If there’s a tree nearby, take shelter under it so that you’re out of the elements but still visible.
------ Stay safe. ----
Avoid rivers and creeks. If you fall in the water, you are in danger of drowning or hypothermia. Get your water from dew or, if necessary, drink from ponds or pools. In short, get your water supply from bodies of water that are smaller than you are.
Don’t start a fire. Don’t eat food you don’t recognize because the wrong kind of berries and mushrooms can make you very sick.
----- Stay conspicuous. ------
If you hear a noise from the woods, whistle or yell. If searchers made the noise, they’ll hear you and answer. If it’s an animal, you’ll scare it away.
If you hear or see aircraft, use a reflector, wave something brightly colored, or lie down on the ground in a clear spot to make yourself more easily seen.
----- Stay together. ---------
If you’re with a friend or a pet, don’t separate. It’s important to use each other for body heat when temperatures cool.
----- Stay warm. -------
Put on your warm clothes. Zip up sweaters and jackets. If you’ve got a hat, wear it; more than 70 percent of your body’s heat escapes through your head.
------ Stay upright. -----
Don’t lie on cold ground except briefly. Stay longer and it will rob you of needed body heat. Gather branches and moss leaves and make a bed. Make it thick, if you can.
(Source: The Bellingham Herald