Life-Saving Training Blog

 

Self-Rescue Skills for Unexpected Emergencies

by  Bob Elling     Jun 25, 2025
self rescue skills

One summer in high school, before I had any official first aid training, I worked as a broiler man at a local restaurant called Ships Inn. I spent my days at Jones Beach and relied on hitchhiking for transportation. One rushed afternoon; I was dropped off a mile from work and had to run barefoot through a suburban neighborhood, stepping directly onto a broken bottle. The pain was intense, but I pulled the glass from my heel and continued to work, leaving a trail of blood. At the restaurant, I rinsed my foot, wrapped it in a towel, and managed to limp through a busy night in the kitchen. I avoided infection and stitches, but missed swimming the next day, choosing to keep the incident from my mom by discarding the bloody towel.

While we often train and work as a team, there are times when you might find yourself arriving at an incident alone, with backup taking considerable time to arrive. Sometimes, you might get separated from your partner or crew.

Many of us have similar stories that didn’t require a formal response. This blog aims to explore commonly taught self-rescue skills that emergency responders might find useful.

Are You Ready to Rescue Yourself?
If something tragic happens to your partner, your training has prepared you to assess and treat your partner as a patient. However, what happens when you are pinned down or suddenly sick or injured alone by yourself? Quick thinking, using your radio to communicate your location, what has happened to you, and the help you need, is a good first step. Take a deep breath, assess the safety of the situation, and follow your assessment priorities. There are a few skills you have been trained to self-administer for which can be lifesaving. Your success at these skills can be improved by having prepared to do these skills ahead of time. 

Medical and Traumatic Situations Where Self-Rescue Could Be Lifesaving
Some people seem to need help with the simplest things. We all can think of some guy who steered away from any medical knowledge for most of his life. Even the guy who doesn’t know which side of the band-aid has the sticky stuff on it needs to learn how to stop bleeding, know when to call for help, and apply a clean simple dressing and bandage. Here are a few skills we should make sure the students in our classes know how to do:

  • When alone and you are suddenly choking on that chunk of food, having previously practiced the Abdominal Thrust (Heimlich Maneuver) as the single rescuer/patient on the back of a chair, table, or railing might make a big difference. Of course, call 9-1-1 on a speaker phone and make lots of noise if you cannot speak.  

  • If you sustain life-threatening external bleeding, remember the skills of direct pressure, a hemostatic dressing if available, or application of a tourniquet if needed to control extremity bleeding. Have you practiced putting on a pressure bandage and/or tourniquet on yourself?  

  • Recognizing the signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis and treating them promptly is important. For example, imagine being suddenly confronted with a bee, wasp, or hornet nest and are stung multiple times. Do you carry an epi-pen in your kit and if so, could you self-administer if needed? 

  • If you begin to recognize the signs of exertional dehydration, drink plenty of water or a sports drink. If you believe you are getting heat stroke, cool off in a stream or body of water. 

  • If you sustain caustic chemical burns on your skin or in your eyes, you need to immediately begin flushing the chemicals with water. 

  • Recognize your own personal medical history and prepare a potential emergency (i.e.: diabetic who may need glucose packet, asthmatic who may need MDI bronchodilator, etc.) Are you taking any specific medications that can contribute to an injury or illness (ie: blood thinner effecting internal bleeding). 

  • Although it is not in first responder training, learning to swim is a life skill. You never know when you may be called upon to assist someone in the water or accidentally fall into the water yourself. 

  • Every responder should know how to use a fire extinguisher, a seat belt cutter and a window punch to get out of a vehicle in a hurry. 

  • If there is an untrained bystander who arrives on the scene, perhaps you can tell them how to assist you (i.e.: applying a splint, dealing with an impaled object, assisting with bleeding control).

Wilderness Rescue May Involve Self-Rescue and Survival Skills
“Wilderness” refers to a geographic location more than one hour from definitive medical care. During the “wrong” weather conditions (i.e.: high winds, ice storm, flooding, heavy snow, etc.) this includes a lot of rural locations, not just extremely remote ones.

Wilderness rescue teams receive training and carry appropriate survival gear to rescue those in danger in the wilderness. They are trained to work in austere environments with very dangerous conditions. These teams also need to be prepared to rescue themselves should a team member become separated from the rest of the group. In some rescues, involving a helicopter extraction, once the patient is loaded the weight limits may be exceeded, necessitating leaving a rescue team member at the scene having to hike their way out of the mountains.

For more information on dealing with medical emergencies and injuries in locations where the 9-1-1 EMS System is likely to take hours to days to reach and or extricate the patient, we suggest you review the book Wilderness First Aid: Emergency Care in Remote Locations and inquire about a WFA course in your area. The Wilderness Medical Society is also an excellent resource for training and research.

Self-Rescue Techniques Require Specialty Training
Some skills are simply not found in the basic training programs for first responders because they require much more detailed training and specialty equipment. An example would be programs designed to prepare rescuers on water rescue teams who might find themselves in a river rapids incident. In this type of situation, the rescuer is trained to take either a defensive or offensive approach to the rapidly moving water. The defensive approach would involve body surfing with your feet first on your back with your arms extended in an attempt to float on top of the water’s surface and ride out the rapid. Significant danger can occur if your legs are to get caught or pinned in trees, brush, or rocks under the surface of the water. The offensive approach involves very aggressive swimming on the stomach in an attempt to get through the rapid to a safe location on the river.

Kayaking is a sport where training may involve self-rescue skills. Getting back into an overturned kayak in flat calm water can be a challenge if you have not previously practiced doing so.

Training for recreational sports or adventure climbing, as well as high-angle rescue, involves learning self-rescue techniques. Conditions may change and you may need to switch from descending/rappelling (carefully sliding down the rope) to ascending (carefully climbing up the rope) to get back to a safer location.

Basic Firefighting Self-Rescue Training: Bailout Training
Fire service training has an emphasis on working and searching as a team, but it is possible to get separated. Fire departments train to rapidly deploy the emergency escape and self-rescue system their department uses. These systems consist of an escape harness, approx. 50 feet of escape rope, an escape carabineer, and an anchoring device. These systems should meet the NFPA 2500: Standard for Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue incidents and Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services (2022). The intent of this bailout training is to prepare the firefighter to evacuate a structure thru a window and safely lower themselves to the ground or to a lower floor to either enter another window or to a safe position where they may be rescued with a ladder and/or rescued by a high angle team rappelling from the roof or a higher floor. Since this skill can be extremely dangerous it is important that it be safely demonstrated and practiced under direct supervision of a qualified training officer.

In Summary
Aside from teaching that you should always wear your running shoes when running thru the streets, I have a couple of points for your consideration: 

  • Try training exercises in skills with and without a trained assistant. 

  • Consider scenarios where you must “teach” an assistant to assist you.  

  • As in an alternative training scenario, let the lone rescuer become the injured or sick patient. 

  • Before heading out to a remote area, consider your ability to communicate for help (ie: radio, cell, solar charger, satellite (Starlink) messaging). 

  • When you are heading out into a remote recreational area, consider some appropriate training and bring a lightweight packable FA kit. 

  • Take the time to practice putting a TK on yourself using your non-dominant hand. 

  • As always, stay safe and be careful out there!

About the Author:
Bob Elling, MPA, Paramedic (retired) – has been a career paramedic, educator, author, and EMS advocate for 5 decades. He was a paramedic with the Town of Colonie EMS Department, Albany Times Union Center, and Whiteface Mountain Medical Services. He was also an Albany Medical Center Clinical Instructor at the HVCC Paramedic Program. Bob served as AHA National/Regional Faculty and participated in many successful life-saving legislative campaigns with the You’re the Cure Network. He also served as paramedic and lieutenant for New York City EMS, a paramedic program director, and associate director of New York State EMS Bureau. He has authored hundreds of articles, videos, Blogs, and textbooks to prepare EMS providers for their career. Bob is the ECSI Medical Editor for the CPR and First Aid Series, Co-Author of EVOS-2, and Co-Lead Editor of Nancy Caroline’s Emergency Care in the Streets.

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Self-Rescue Skills for Unexpected Emergencies

by  Bob Elling     Jun 25, 2025
self rescue skills

One summer in high school, before I had any official first aid training, I worked as a broiler man at a local restaurant called Ships Inn. I spent my days at Jones Beach and relied on hitchhiking for transportation. One rushed afternoon; I was dropped off a mile from work and had to run barefoot through a suburban neighborhood, stepping directly onto a broken bottle. The pain was intense, but I pulled the glass from my heel and continued to work, leaving a trail of blood. At the restaurant, I rinsed my foot, wrapped it in a towel, and managed to limp through a busy night in the kitchen. I avoided infection and stitches, but missed swimming the next day, choosing to keep the incident from my mom by discarding the bloody towel.

While we often train and work as a team, there are times when you might find yourself arriving at an incident alone, with backup taking considerable time to arrive. Sometimes, you might get separated from your partner or crew.

Many of us have similar stories that didn’t require a formal response. This blog aims to explore commonly taught self-rescue skills that emergency responders might find useful.

Are You Ready to Rescue Yourself?
If something tragic happens to your partner, your training has prepared you to assess and treat your partner as a patient. However, what happens when you are pinned down or suddenly sick or injured alone by yourself? Quick thinking, using your radio to communicate your location, what has happened to you, and the help you need, is a good first step. Take a deep breath, assess the safety of the situation, and follow your assessment priorities. There are a few skills you have been trained to self-administer for which can be lifesaving. Your success at these skills can be improved by having prepared to do these skills ahead of time. 

Medical and Traumatic Situations Where Self-Rescue Could Be Lifesaving
Some people seem to need help with the simplest things. We all can think of some guy who steered away from any medical knowledge for most of his life. Even the guy who doesn’t know which side of the band-aid has the sticky stuff on it needs to learn how to stop bleeding, know when to call for help, and apply a clean simple dressing and bandage. Here are a few skills we should make sure the students in our classes know how to do:

  • When alone and you are suddenly choking on that chunk of food, having previously practiced the Abdominal Thrust (Heimlich Maneuver) as the single rescuer/patient on the back of a chair, table, or railing might make a big difference. Of course, call 9-1-1 on a speaker phone and make lots of noise if you cannot speak.  

  • If you sustain life-threatening external bleeding, remember the skills of direct pressure, a hemostatic dressing if available, or application of a tourniquet if needed to control extremity bleeding. Have you practiced putting on a pressure bandage and/or tourniquet on yourself?  

  • Recognizing the signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis and treating them promptly is important. For example, imagine being suddenly confronted with a bee, wasp, or hornet nest and are stung multiple times. Do you carry an epi-pen in your kit and if so, could you self-administer if needed? 

  • If you begin to recognize the signs of exertional dehydration, drink plenty of water or a sports drink. If you believe you are getting heat stroke, cool off in a stream or body of water. 

  • If you sustain caustic chemical burns on your skin or in your eyes, you need to immediately begin flushing the chemicals with water. 

  • Recognize your own personal medical history and prepare a potential emergency (i.e.: diabetic who may need glucose packet, asthmatic who may need MDI bronchodilator, etc.) Are you taking any specific medications that can contribute to an injury or illness (ie: blood thinner effecting internal bleeding). 

  • Although it is not in first responder training, learning to swim is a life skill. You never know when you may be called upon to assist someone in the water or accidentally fall into the water yourself. 

  • Every responder should know how to use a fire extinguisher, a seat belt cutter and a window punch to get out of a vehicle in a hurry. 

  • If there is an untrained bystander who arrives on the scene, perhaps you can tell them how to assist you (i.e.: applying a splint, dealing with an impaled object, assisting with bleeding control).

Wilderness Rescue May Involve Self-Rescue and Survival Skills
“Wilderness” refers to a geographic location more than one hour from definitive medical care. During the “wrong” weather conditions (i.e.: high winds, ice storm, flooding, heavy snow, etc.) this includes a lot of rural locations, not just extremely remote ones.

Wilderness rescue teams receive training and carry appropriate survival gear to rescue those in danger in the wilderness. They are trained to work in austere environments with very dangerous conditions. These teams also need to be prepared to rescue themselves should a team member become separated from the rest of the group. In some rescues, involving a helicopter extraction, once the patient is loaded the weight limits may be exceeded, necessitating leaving a rescue team member at the scene having to hike their way out of the mountains.

For more information on dealing with medical emergencies and injuries in locations where the 9-1-1 EMS System is likely to take hours to days to reach and or extricate the patient, we suggest you review the book Wilderness First Aid: Emergency Care in Remote Locations and inquire about a WFA course in your area. The Wilderness Medical Society is also an excellent resource for training and research.

Self-Rescue Techniques Require Specialty Training
Some skills are simply not found in the basic training programs for first responders because they require much more detailed training and specialty equipment. An example would be programs designed to prepare rescuers on water rescue teams who might find themselves in a river rapids incident. In this type of situation, the rescuer is trained to take either a defensive or offensive approach to the rapidly moving water. The defensive approach would involve body surfing with your feet first on your back with your arms extended in an attempt to float on top of the water’s surface and ride out the rapid. Significant danger can occur if your legs are to get caught or pinned in trees, brush, or rocks under the surface of the water. The offensive approach involves very aggressive swimming on the stomach in an attempt to get through the rapid to a safe location on the river.

Kayaking is a sport where training may involve self-rescue skills. Getting back into an overturned kayak in flat calm water can be a challenge if you have not previously practiced doing so.

Training for recreational sports or adventure climbing, as well as high-angle rescue, involves learning self-rescue techniques. Conditions may change and you may need to switch from descending/rappelling (carefully sliding down the rope) to ascending (carefully climbing up the rope) to get back to a safer location.

Basic Firefighting Self-Rescue Training: Bailout Training
Fire service training has an emphasis on working and searching as a team, but it is possible to get separated. Fire departments train to rapidly deploy the emergency escape and self-rescue system their department uses. These systems consist of an escape harness, approx. 50 feet of escape rope, an escape carabineer, and an anchoring device. These systems should meet the NFPA 2500: Standard for Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue incidents and Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services (2022). The intent of this bailout training is to prepare the firefighter to evacuate a structure thru a window and safely lower themselves to the ground or to a lower floor to either enter another window or to a safe position where they may be rescued with a ladder and/or rescued by a high angle team rappelling from the roof or a higher floor. Since this skill can be extremely dangerous it is important that it be safely demonstrated and practiced under direct supervision of a qualified training officer.

In Summary
Aside from teaching that you should always wear your running shoes when running thru the streets, I have a couple of points for your consideration: 

  • Try training exercises in skills with and without a trained assistant. 

  • Consider scenarios where you must “teach” an assistant to assist you.  

  • As in an alternative training scenario, let the lone rescuer become the injured or sick patient. 

  • Before heading out to a remote area, consider your ability to communicate for help (ie: radio, cell, solar charger, satellite (Starlink) messaging). 

  • When you are heading out into a remote recreational area, consider some appropriate training and bring a lightweight packable FA kit. 

  • Take the time to practice putting a TK on yourself using your non-dominant hand. 

  • As always, stay safe and be careful out there!

About the Author:
Bob Elling, MPA, Paramedic (retired) – has been a career paramedic, educator, author, and EMS advocate for 5 decades. He was a paramedic with the Town of Colonie EMS Department, Albany Times Union Center, and Whiteface Mountain Medical Services. He was also an Albany Medical Center Clinical Instructor at the HVCC Paramedic Program. Bob served as AHA National/Regional Faculty and participated in many successful life-saving legislative campaigns with the You’re the Cure Network. He also served as paramedic and lieutenant for New York City EMS, a paramedic program director, and associate director of New York State EMS Bureau. He has authored hundreds of articles, videos, Blogs, and textbooks to prepare EMS providers for their career. Bob is the ECSI Medical Editor for the CPR and First Aid Series, Co-Author of EVOS-2, and Co-Lead Editor of Nancy Caroline’s Emergency Care in the Streets.

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