Two things search-and-rescue teams really want you to know this week:

  • Don’t take that bad advice that’s circulating concerning voicemail.
  • Do answer your phone if you’re a lost hiker, even if it’s an unfamiliar number, because it might be the search team that’s looking for you.

The second point came up last week in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, when Lake County’s search-and-rescue team was notified that a hiker on 14,439-foot Mount Elbert was overdue. As they searched in the darkness, they made multiple calls to the person’s cell phone. The calls went through, but nobody answered.

After 10 hours, the missing person turned up back at the trailhead and acknowledged having been lost overnight. Why did all the searchers’ phone calls go ignored? Because the hiker “didn’t recognize the number.” (The searchers texted, too, and those were ignored as well.)

In the report on the incident, the team mentioned the “notable takeaway”: “If you’re overdue according to your itinerary, and you start getting repeated calls from an unknown number, please answer the phone; it may be a SAR team trying to confirm you’re safe.”

And then there’s the warning about the voicemail “tip.”

Late last week, a social media post took off on Facebook and then other platforms advising people who are lost or stranded and low on phone battery to change their mobile phone’s voicemail message to include their location and other specifics of their predicament.

No, no, no, say the search experts. It takes battery power (and signal) to change your voicemail, and that would be better spent calling or texting 911 rather than changing your outgoing message on speculation that someone will eventually miss you.

If you have a weak signal, or you’re really low on battery, they advise texting rather than calling. “Text takes much less power [than voice communication], is far more likely to get through, will automatically retry many times if you have spotty service, leaves a record others can see and can give you an indication that it got through. … You can compose and hit send on a text and then get your phone as high as possible” — get it away from obstructions — for best chance at a signal that will transmit your message.

The one caveat: Most, but not all, 911 services accept text messages, so you’ll have to decide whether to go with 911 or send your text to a personal contact.

Other tips from search teams:

  • Turn off everything on your phone you do not need: apps, WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular (put it in airplane mode). In particular, the compass feature in some phones is a serious battery drain.
  • If you have enough battery/signal, get GPS coordinates for your text message, then turn off GPS.
  • In winter, keep your phone warm by carrying it next to your skin or in a pocket with a handwarmer.
  • If you’re near your vehicle, stay near it unless that would be dangerous. Same for if you’re near a road or trail.
  • Before you head out, leave an itinerary with someone you can trust to notify authorities if you don’t return on time.