You must be conscious of the possibility of accidents happening during your trip and what measures you can take to extricate yourself and your group in such an eventuality. Accidents fall in to two categories: medical and vehicular. A key factor to the successful outcome of any accident, that requires external assistance, is communications.
Communications. Within the UAE it is generally possible to obtain a mobile phone signal, even in the depths of the Liwa, Al Maghrib and Al Humra. In any accident, requiring external emergency assistance, you should, in the first instance, call 999. This will connect you with the emergency services and, depending on the nature of the accident, an appropriate response will be made (if it is a minor vehicle accident, you may be left to drive out on your own and be told to report to the nearest police station. If it is a serious medical problem, the casualty may be lifted out by an emergency response helicopter).
In the Oman the situation is markedly different. You are unlikely to have a mobile phone signal in the depths of the Omani Empty Quarter or the Wahiba. You may wish to consider taking a satellite phone for such trips and know how to contact the Omani emergency services. Where a mobile phone signal is obtainable you should call 999 to notify the Omani emergency services.
In any eventuality, you will need to be able to give your location (description and GPS co-ordinates) and the nature of the accident. In undertaking the most remote trips you need to be aware of the risks of accidents and the likelihood that you will not be rescued or provided with any assistance. You must be self-reliant and resourceful enough to extricate yourself.
Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). PLBs are more usually found amongst the personal survival equipment of pilots and mariners. However they are more frequently being used by people on land. If you chose to obtain a PLB you should ensure that it is a 406MHz transmitter and that it has an inbuilt GPS. Each PLB has a unique identifier code, which can be registered with an official government rescue agency and allows them to identify the holder/user. To register your PLB you will need to call the UAE SAR organisation (800 UAESAR) and they will log you and your PLB’s details. The UAE has a receiving station for PLB transmissions and an established search and rescue service.
When activated by the user, the PLB will transmit a distress signal with the personal identifier code and the GPS location, which will be picked up by the local user terminal. In effect, the PLB will alert the search and rescue services and be able to tell them exactly where you are located and who you are (if registered). If you do have one you should know that they are not to be used lightly. They should only be used in life threatening situations where your only possible means of survival is to be rescued by government funded rescue agencies. If you can dial 999, do not use your PLB.
Vehicle Breakdowns. Whilst vehicle breakdowns are not considered to be ‘accidents’ per se, they have the potential to be life threatening if you cannot repair the vehicle and extricate yourself. The possibility of an irreparable vehicle breakdown is one of the best reasons not to travel alone. If the vehicle cannot be repaired in situ, there are three options available to you.
Firstly, you can attempt to do a self-recovery within your group. If the vehicle can still roll on its wheels this will mean towing the vehicle. Towing a vehicle off-road, and particularly in complex dunes, is hugely difficult and puts enormous stresses on both vehicles involved and may result in further damage or breakdown of the towing vehicle. A decision to tow must take into account the distance to the nearest possible escape route (usually at least a prepared track but, preferably, a macadamised track or tarmac road), the type of terrain to be crossed and the potential damage to the recovering vehicle. Once you reach your intended escape route you can either continue the tow-out or call for a recovery vehicle.
Secondly, if the vehicle is unable to be towed or the tow would be too difficult, you can call for a specialist recovery vehicle from one of the reputable off-road recovery companies.
Both options described above apply to the routes in the UAE. In Oman the situation is significantly more difficult. Within the Oman, due to the nature and scope of the terrain of the routes described in the guidebook, you will have to be self-sufficient. In the event of a breakdown you may be on your own and a long way from help, and towing a rolling vehicle may be your only viable option. The likelihood of recovering a non-rolling vehicle breakdown in the Empty Quarter, for example, is slim, though not impossible. It will require ingenuity, initiative and a the willingness to put time and effort into finding someone willing to lift your vehicle out or willing to come and repair it in situ.
Your third and last course of action, if all else fails, and if travelling with other vehicles, is to abandon the stricken vehicle for recovery at a later date. In remote areas this is not as risky as it sounds due to the limited traffic flow. If you are sufficiently far away from established tracks and built-up areas, there is little chance that anyone will discover the vehicle for quite some time, so it will be relatively secure.
DESERT SAFETY & SURVIVAL
To be able to survive for long periods in the desert is something you may be faced with on any of the trips in this guidebook. There are better and more detailed books on this subject and some recommendations are made in the guidebook. What follows here are some basic tips and techniques that you should be aware of.
Acclimatization. Even though you may be living and working in the region, the majority of the users of the guidebook will live in air conditioned houses or apartments, drive air conditioned cars and work in air conditioned workplaces. Unless you work outdoors for the majority of the year it is unlikely that you will be fully acclimatized to the rigours of the region’s climate between May and October. You must bear this in mind when venturing off-road, at these times of year in particular. Even outside the May – October period, temperatures in the region can exceed 40 degrees Celsius and be debilitating for the even the best prepared.
When you do drive off-road you may wish to help yourself a little by driving with your windows down and with the air conditioning switched off (this also keeps you ‘in touch’ with what is happening to your vehicle as you drive). Even without full acclimatization you should be able to withstand the severe heat in this region provided that you take cognisance of the following guidelines:
Make sure that you drink regularly, even if you are not feeling thirsty. In order to avoid stomach problems try not to drink in large gulps but take frequent sips and be aware that dehydration normally happens before you actually start to feel thirsty. If your urine is dark, you need to drink more water but you should avoid water that is too cold because it may cause stomach cramps. Similarly, you should eat regularly, even when not feeling hungry, to avoid becoming weak through lack of nutritional energy. Drink and eat little and often.
Clothing should be light and loose fitting and it is strongly suggested that you wear a hat or head-covering, particularly in direct sunlight. If you can, try and stay in the shade as much as possible.
During recoveries or vehicle maintenance and repair, you should wear some form of work glove. Metal objects and surfaces can be particularly hot.
The particular vices of alcohol and smoking are really unsuited to desert conditions. Both encourage dehydration and lessen the effects of any acclimatisation you may have gained.
Heat Illnesses. Heat Illnesses occur in several ways, such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke as well as sunburn. All are caused by too much exposure to the sun, a lack of water and too little bodily salt. It is important that you are able to recognise the symptoms in yourself as well as in others and you should also know the correct treatment for heat illnesses and what the preventative measures are.
First Aid. It is incumbent on any trip organiser to ensure that there is at least one person in the group who has an up-to-date knowledge of First Aid. The aim of First Aid is simply to save life; beyond this you are delving into the realms of more specialised knowledge and potentially life-threatening rather than life-saving treatment. First Aid courses are available through many providers in the region on a group or individual basis.
