How Communications Breaks Down in the Outdoors
When communications breaks down in the outdoors, it can have serious consequences. In non-emergency situations, such as during outdoor recreational activities, communication breakdowns can cause delays, misunderstandings, and poor teamwork. These breakdowns can also lead to injuries and emergency situations. For example, less experienced rafters can misunderstand the difficulty of a rapid thus causing them to downplay the possible consequences of an accident. In emergency situations, the lack of communication can delay rescue efforts, increase the risk of injury or death to the victims, and make it difficult to coordinate response efforts.
Mechanisms by Which Communications Breaks Down
Communications breakdowns can occur in a variety of ways in the outdoors, including due to physical barriers, interference, equipment failure, and poor group integration.
Physical Barriers
Physical barriers such as mountains, rocks, trees, and river bends can obstruct lines of sight for communications. Lack of clear sight lines can make it impossible to see your team and thus relay information through nonverbal communication. Similarly, loud rapids can impede your ability to hear verbal or audio communications like whistle blasts. The natural topography and also block radio, GPS, or cellular signals, causing weak or lost signals. This can make it difficult to establish a clear and reliable communication link, especially in hilly terrain or steep canyons.
Equipment Failure
Outdoor equipment is generally exposed to harsh conditions, such as extreme temperatures, moisture, and dust especially in the river. This can cause equipment to malfunction or fail, leading to a loss of communication. Emergency communications equipment often rely on batteries or other portable power sources. These power sources can be depleted quickly under heavy usage or harsh conditions, which can lead to a loss of communication.
Operator Error
Operator error can occur when people use equipment incorrectly, fail to maintain it properly, or fail to follow proper communication protocols. This can lead to misunderstandings, confusion, and a lack of coordination among team members or rescue personnel. Additionally, if you only have one person on the team trained to use a sat phone or personal locator beacon and that person becomes incapacitated then that equipment becomes useless as an emergency communications device.
Weather
Extreme weather conditions such as storms, fog, and heavy rain can cause a disruption in communication as well by interfering with technology or simply removing the direct line of sight needed for things like nonverbal communication between team members on either side of a rapid for example.
Unclear Communications Protocols
In different outdoor communities or even groups you can have widely varied communications protocols and signals. This is true between profession rescue agencies and recreational outdoor participants. Often times when these groups come together to operate in the outdoors there can be significant confusion due to the same signal having a different meaning or members of other groups not knowing what specific signals mean.
Interpersonal Conflict
Sometimes it just comes down to someone not liking another member of the group. Interpersonal conflict can create drama which hinders communications. In some cases, ego is involved and one member of the group disagrees with how another group member operates. This can lead to people not wanting to try to properly communicate, this can also lead to some members wanting to prove others wrong and thus letting them fail at a critical moment. Interpersonal conflict often results in someone hearing but not listening to another team member’s thoughts that a rapid is too dangerous or a climb is too difficult for the team to achieve successfully. This ultimately leads to a breach of trust and teamwork falling apart.
All these factors combined can cause a significant breakdown in communications, and it is essential to have a plan in place to address these issues and maintain effective communication in the outdoor environment. This may include using multiple communication methods, such as radios and satellite phones, as well as regular testing and maintenance of equipment, and proper training for all team members.
In emergency situations, communication breakdowns can make it difficult for rescue teams to locate and assist individuals in distress. This can lead to delays in response times and increase the risk of injury or death. For example, if someone is hiking out of a river and becomes lost or injured in a remote area and is unable to communicate their location, it can be challenging for rescue teams to find them. This can result in a prolonged search and rescue effort, which can put both the rescuer and the hiker's lives at risk.
How to Reduce Communications Breakdowns in the Outdoors
Physical barriers: Try to navigate around physical barriers whenever possible. You can get higher up to gain a ridge for a phone call, cross to another side of the river to improve sightlines, or climb up the bank to get above trees and brush. Clearing sightlines will allow you to make direct contact and help further direct your team or emergency responses by making sure you have clear 2-way communication.
Maintain Equipment: Be sure that all of your emergency communication equipment from a cell phone, to an in reach to headlamps are charged and functioning. Also make sure anything you are storing them in is clean and dry prior to departing for the trip. Similarly make sure signal whistles are attached to team member equipment and close at hand. Have either a waterproof map or a topo map stored in a waterproof container and mark the map with emergency egress locations.
Operator error: Make sure your team is trained to use emergency equipment or knows how to access the equipment. Having a single cell phone that is password protected doesn’t help if the victim is the only one who knows the pin. Either unlock the phone or have the password written down and stored with the phone is more helpful. Another option is to make sure you have several people who are trained to use your emergency communications devices or have detailed step by step instructions printed out and stored with the communications devices.
Check Weather: Weather can be unpredictable, but checking the local weather and having a plan for more extreme weather events as well as sharing that information with the whole team can be extremely helpful. Knowing it is monsoon season and that monsoons can be expected during the day can help you plan hikes, camping spots, or even knowing the likelihood of rivers or small streams flashing up making navigation significantly more hazardous.
Clear Communications Protocols: If you are operating with a new group that you have never been in the outdoors with before, take some time before the trip to explain your communications protocols and how you operate. If there are inconsistencies clear those up and agree in advance what sort communications protocols you will use. For instance, if 2 groups of rafts paddle together for the first time have conflicting ideas of what a signal means take some time to hash out how you want to address that. Understand that stress and adversity cause people to revert to their training so you may have to adapt your nonverbal communication for clarity on the trip. Also take time to be clear about audio communication. For example: What does one whistle blast mean?
Good Team Dynamics: Strive to create an integrated group dynamic from the start of the trip. No one wants to feel excluded, however sometimes it can be helpful to let people who have a history of interpersonal conflict know the other person is interested in attending. If necessary sit down with those folks before the trip to find common ground if they both still wish to attend. Similarly make sure that you allow other team members to voice concerns and know those concerns are not only hear but understood. Something as simple as stopping and asking the opinion of everyone on the team can go a long way to foster a good group dynamic.
Overall, communication breakdowns in the outdoors can have serious consequences, both in emergency and non-emergency situations. It is essential to have a plan in place to address these issues and maintain effective communication, including using multiple communication methods, regularly testing and maintaining equipment, and proper training with your team in communications. Check out our Beginner Rafting Series below for a refresher on nonverbal communication on the river.
