Would You Have Survived?©

Author’s note -- I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

Most of you will never have to worry about surviving a crashed helicopter in an active war zone.  But I believe that many of the lessons that the author of “A Story of Survival” learned, can help you in any crash survival situation.

 

Immediately after a plane crash, prioritize evacuating the aircraft instantly without personal belongings to avoid fire, smoke, and debris.  Move at least 500 feet (150 meters) upwind from the wreckage.  Assess yourself and others for injuries, administer first aid, and signal for help if possible.

 

First, Get Away:

The first 90 seconds after the crash are critical since most deaths occur during post-crash fires that can spread quickly after impact.  Immediately exit the aircraft wreckage and try to move any survivors away from the wreckage, upwind.  You don’t want to survive the crash just to die in the burning wreckage, and while not every crash turns into an inferno, it happens often enough to be cautious.  So get everyone far enough away so that they aren’t caught in the explosion or by the flames.

 

Second, Assess and Tend Injuries:

In an aircraft crash, injuries pile up quickly.  Use the ‘cABCDE’ checklist, to assess any injuries.  The lower case ‘c’ for critical bleeding comes first because a patient with catastrophic or uncontrolled bleeding can bleed out in minutes and often die faster than they would die from a blocked airway.  The first four items on this check list are critical care items that can lead to death in minutes and are easy to spot.  Items ‘D’ and ‘E’ are longer term injuries, like neurological disabilities and exposure or environmental injuries, which can be harder to spot.  

 

As you check the victim, using both hands, and starting at the top of the victim’s head, working your way down to their toes, looking for spinal cord, traumatic brain injuries and other neurological issues.  Keep the patient as motionless as possible while you are assessing them until you are certain no spinal cord injury exists.  Always try to keep the victim’s head aligned with the midline of their body.

 

If you find bleeding at any point, stop and, whenever possible, expose the skin, preferably by removing clothes, not cutting them.  If you must cut away the victim’s clothing, tape it back together afterwards to retain warmth.  Whenever possible, leave footwear on the victim’s feet, since once it is removed it will be difficult to replace because of swelling.   Additionally, if there are fractures of the foot or ankle, the shoe or boot will serve as a splint.

 

Triage your patients into three classes, ‘now’, for the life-threatening injuries; ‘later’ for broken bones and lacerations; and ‘last’, for everyone else.  And always remember, as a care giver, you cannot treat and care for your patients if you are suffering from life-threatening injuries yourself.   So, if you have ‘now’ injuries, like life threatening hemorrhage, treat yourself first.  Then, treat the head injury, the possible heart attack and, last, the hysterical woman with a broken arm.

 

Third Inventory:

S.T.O.P and see what you have and what can be salvaged from the wreck.  What is there in the environment immediately around you that you can use to help you survive.

 

Fourth Signal for Help:

Generally you should stay near the wreck, while you wait for rescue, because wrecks are easier to spot from the air than survivors.  Whatever you can do to help rescuers find you, you need to do, even if that means moving to a nearby clearing so that you are more visible.

 

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource! 

To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Staff; “Post-Crash Care”, October 29, 2019, [© 2026 Firecrown Media Inc], https://aviationsafetymagazine.com/features/post-crash-care/, accessed March 7, 2026

 

Martin, Thomas E.; “A Story of Survival”, United States Army Aviation Digest, May 1978, Vol. 24 Issue 5, page 22 to 23, https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-army-aviation-digest_1978-05_24_5/page/22/mode/2up, accessed March 7, 2026

 

Rafowell; “Signal Mirror Flash Seen from Airplane”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt-_zjGKY2c, accessed March 7, 2026

 

Watson, Tom; “Effective Ways to Signal Help During Wilderness Emergencies”, March 4, 2025, https://www.actionhub.com/outdoors/effective-ways-to-signal-help-during-wilderness-emergencies/, accessed March 7, 2026