Home Emergencies

Blonde Iguana · Post by **Blonde Iguana** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 1:28 pm

Since there's no cell phone service on the playa, is there some centralized way to be contacted if there's an emergency with home or family while I'm having my world rocked at Burning Man? Or does one just take the bus into Gerlach if they want to call home at some point and make sure everything's okay?

Icepack · Post by **Icepack** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 4:57 pm

It's listed somewhere on the Survival guide or on the website, basically what you do is have your family call the police or the Gerlach Burning Man office and they send someone out to you. It's a good idea to know before you leave where you will be camping, where you might be volunteering, your license plate number etc. so that you can be found. Then I assume they will send a Ranger or police officer to find you. This should work pretty well if you are with a registered theme camp since those camps will be easy to find. Otherwise it might be a bit more difficult. It is do-able, but the length of time it takes to find you will be minimumized by how well you prepare ahead of time.

_tears_ · Post by **_tears_** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:10 pm

You could also use someone who is in a theme camp. Have them notify the person in the theme camp and then notify you. Someone used me last year. Thankfully it wasnt needed.

Ivy · Post by **Ivy** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:35 pm

You might keep in mind that it goes in both directions, too--what if you're out in BFE on the open playa and something happens to you? You're generally not even carrying an ID or driver's license like you probably would be in the "real world." How would anyone know who you are, much less where you're camped, and even if they figure that out, how to get in touch with your family etc.?
People have accused me of being "wussy" and "anal-rententive" for doinfg this, but every year I make a little plastic tag that I put on my camelpak. On one side it has my playa address and a person (or several) at my camp to ask for. The other side has the names and numbers of my emergency contacts outside of BM.
If people think I'm a wuss, whatever. I feel like i can go out there and do a lot more wacky things knowing i have abetter chance of "rescue" if something happens to me.

calsur · Post by **calsur** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 1:32 am

Ivy,

Thanks for the tip. I have resurrected my Army dog tags. Name, SSN, blood type and religion. Plus the red one that shows I am allergic to Penicillin. And I will add my insurance info and home contacts.

Ivy · Post by **Ivy** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:31 am

>Plus the red one that shows I am allergic to Penicillin

Yeah, I forgot about that part--any major allergies or med stuff.

Hmmm..dog tags...that would go great with some ideas I'm mulling over this year....

Thanks!

Icepack · Post by **Icepack** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:57 am

calsur wrote:Ivy,

Thanks for the tip. I have resurrected my Army dog tags. Name, SSN, blood type and religion. Plus the red one that shows I am allergic to Penicillin. And I will add my insurance info and home contacts.

Our local Army surplus store sells dog tags that they make to order. We put our name, our playa name, where we will be camping, emergency phone number of someone off playa, and also our blood type on it.

I got so used to wearing mine last year, I haven't taken them off yet except to replace the silencers.

I figure something you wear on your person is the best way to go. Even if you don't have pockets, you can always wear a bracelet or a necklace.

everaftertrance · Post by **everaftertrance** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 3:47 pm

calsur wrote:Ivy,

Thanks for the tip. I have resurrected my Army dog tags. Name, SSN, blood type and religion. Plus the red one that shows I am allergic to Penicillin. And I will add my insurance info and home contacts.

I have my dog tags from when I was in the Army still

Hehe...I was medically discharged but they def. come in handy. I have my husband's USMC tags I wear with them...but I just may have to make up some ones for the playa since I'm a newb

Last Real Burner · Post by **Last Real Burner** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 7:08 pm

Well now, if it's a deal breaker you may want to rent one of these babies...

http://www.satellitediscountstore.com/i ... silver.gif

they ain't cheap, but they work anywhere anytime, but the per minute charge qualifies as a Christmas Gift from Christys of New York.

My bad.... They are cheap and they come prepaid, or as a rental whoda thunk.

"Hello?, Hello?, Hello?"

remotely,
mr smith

Last Real Burner · Post by **Last Real Burner** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 7:12 pm

Oh you want a linkkkkkkkkk....... Well why didn't you say so...

http://www.satellitediscountstore.com/rentals.htm

informingly,
mr smith

_tears_ · Post by **_tears_** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 7:55 pm

I keep a little zip lock of my personal info also.

My medical card number,SS#, Name, Age, Meds i am on and who to contact.

And when i am without my back pack at night zipping around on the playa, i keep a purse with me that has my Playa name and where i am staying in it incase i get a little out drunk and so forth.

---Tears---

everaftertrance · Post by **everaftertrance** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 9:52 pm

_tears_ wrote:I keep a little zip lock of my personal info also.

My medical card number,SS#, Name, Age, Meds i am on and who to contact.

And when i am without my back pack at night zipping around on the playa, i keep a purse with me that has my Playa name and where i am staying in it incase i get a little out drunk and so forth.

---Tears---

Excellent idea Tears...

III · Post by **III** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 11:47 pm

given how difficult it can be for people who know each other, who want to meet up, and know where they're camped to actually get together, it may be unwise to rely on a leo (who will be busy with lots of stuff) to try to figure out which one of 30,000 people you are to deliver a personal message.

SilkenTofu · Post by **SilkenTofu** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 7:45 am

I have found that if you go to a large petstore (PetSmart perhaps) - that you can have dogtags engraved by a machine that can do up to 3 or 4 lines of information depending on the style you want. They can cost anywhere from $5 to $8 and come in a variety of shapes. Last year I had some with names and the camp name and the year for some of my closer camp mates. It was funny as a line formed behind me because I was making 8 tags and it was obvious to the rest of them that there weren't for my persian kitty.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 3:55 pm

Ivy wrote: People have accused me of being "wussy" and "anal-rententive" for doinfg this, but every year I make a little plastic tag that I put on my camelpak. On one side it has my playa address and a person (or several) at my camp to ask for. The other side has the names and numbers of my emergency contacts outside of BM.

Doesn't sound "wussy" to me. After two years in Emergency Services, it sounds downright sensible.
And for those of you with serious medical conditions
http://www.medicalert.org/(u0rnnr55tucd ... dient.aspx
is worth investigating.

And a personal observation. Because of "Playa Time" some people are less diligent about their med schedule. If you have a condition where missing a dose could get you into big trouble, start thinking about a plan now.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 4:00 pm

SilkenTofu wrote:I have found that if you go to a large petstore .

Okay, way off topic here. Some of those large chain petstores have abusive practices in treating living beings as commodities. (I'm talking putting sick turtles in the freezer instead of paying for vet care or euthanization type policies.) If this is a concern for you (I don't want to spend money at those sorts of places) you can probably pick up a mail order brochure at a vet's or find a website and order. Otherwise, great idea.

Last Real Burner · Post by **Last Real Burner** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:15 pm

Ahhh the sound of thread drift.

floatingly,
mr smith

Home Emergencies

Home Emergencies

In case of emergency

army dog tags

Oooo La-La...

FYI....

In liue of Army dogtags...why not pets

Re: In liue of Army dogtags...why not pets

And for my next trick...