Emergency Contacts
For the people waiting at home, and the ones who get the call when something goes wrong
If someone has named you as their emergency contact for a backcountry trip, or you might be one someday, this section is for you. The role has a specific job description that most people never get told. The anxiety usually comes from not knowing what's normal. The bad outcomes come from hesitating too long — or, less often, from escalating too early. Both are solvable with a little preparation. The articles below cover what you need to know.
The six articles below are written to be read in roughly the order they appear. The first two are about setting up the role well before any trip starts. The next two cover the active situations: recognizing trouble and making the call. The last two cover what happens after the call has been made — understanding the response and getting through the wait.
If you arrived here in the middle of something difficult, start with Recognizing Normal vs. Concerning if you're trying to decide whether to act, or When and How to Escalate if you've already decided. You can come back to the other articles later.
1. Being an Emergency Contact
What the role actually is, what it isn't, and the mental model that makes the rest of this content useful. The foundation piece. Read this first if you can.
2. Before They Go
The setup conversation with your adventurer. What to ask, what to write down, and what you don't need to know. Twenty minutes of preparation that prevents most of the confusion if anything goes sideways.
3. Recognizing Normal vs. Concerning
The calibration framework. What backcountry trips actually look like in practice, why missed check-ins are usually nothing, what actual signals of trouble look like, and how to handle the in-between feeling.
4. When and How to Escalate
The action article. Who to call, what to say, what information to have ready, and what happens in the first minutes after the call. Includes the cost question, which should never delay a call to SAR.
5. What Happens After You Call
Understanding SAR response. Realistic timelines, what "mobilizing" actually means, why some things take longer than instinct expects, and what your role becomes once the response is active.
6. Waiting Well
The practical and emotional work of being in the uncertainty window. Self-care during the wait, who to lean on, what to do with the urge to act, and how to come down after the response ends.