The sun’s out. 

The air feels warm. 

Layers come off. 

 

And someone steps into cold water thinking it’ll feel refreshing. 

 

It doesn’t. 

 

It takes their breath away. 

 

Cold water shock is the body’s immediate response to sudden immersion in cold water. 

 

It happens in seconds. 

 

Before you even think. 

 

Before you even start swimming. 

 

The key features: 

 

 

That first gasp is the danger. 

 

If your face is underwater when it happens, you inhale water. 

I enjoy map reading, it is an important skill anyone who ventures off the beaten track should understand. 

 

Navigation is usually taught as a hill skill, using: 

 

 

But there is another side to navigation that rarely gets discussed. 

 

Navigation errors are a potential medical risk. 

 

When people get lost, small problems quickly become serious incidents. 

 

Not because the terrain changed. 

 

But because the situation has changed. 

A warm day. 

Long grass. 

A group enjoying the hills. 

 

And somewhere on that hillside — something the size of a poppy seed waiting for a lift. 

 

Ticks are a routine part of the UK countryside. Most bites cause nothing more than mild irritation. But occasionally they transmit infections such as Lyme disease. 

 

For outdoor leaders, instructors and regular hill-goers, understanding ticks isn’t about fear. 

 

It’s about awareness, prevention and sensible decision-making. 

Outdoor incidents rarely happen in convenient places. 

 

You may be dealing with poor light, cold weather, uneven ground, and a group who are looking to you for direction. 

 

The scene is safe, your group is sorted but in these moments, structure matters. 

 

That is where ABCDE comes in — a simple, structured approach to clinically assess, identify and treat life-threatening problems. 

 

It is widely used in emergency medicine and trauma care because it prioritises the problems most likely to kill a casualty first. 

Research shows the ABCDE approach improves recognition of life-threatening conditions and helps teams prioritise treatment effectively (Thim et al., 2012). 

 

For outdoor leaders, it provides something just as valuable: 

 

A clear thinking process when situations become chaotic. 

I’ve carried an group shelter for years. 

 

Intially I thought of it as survival kit. 

 

Now I see it differently. 

 

In remote settings, it’s medical equipment. 

 

(And my kids like to have lunch in ours). 

 

Because when evacuation is delayed — and in the UK hills that’s common — the real threat is often not the injury. It’s exposure.