Mountain Distress Signals: Arms and Whistle

Students learn the international mountain distress signals and use them in long-distance communication games and a search drill. It builds emergency response and communicating without words.

How to play

1. Explain: both arms raised in a Y means 'yes, we need help'; one arm up and one down means 'no, we don't need help'; with a whistle, six blasts in a minute, a minute's pause, then repeat; the reply is three blasts (4 min).
2. Pair practice 40 m apart: one gives a signal and the other says what they understood (5 min).
3. Message game: team A gets a situation card and can only use signals; team B, across the field, decides and replies (8 min).
4. Drill: a student hidden in a marked area blows the whistle signal, and search groups find them by sound, replying with three blasts (6 min).
5. Final review: each group shows the signals on its own (2 min).

Rules

• Whistles are only for the game and never near anyone's ear.
• Everyone uses their own whistle, or it's sanitized before switching.
• In the drill, search at a walk and as a group, without splitting up.
• Make signals big and facing the receiver.

Variations

Adaptations

• Deaf students: master the arm signals and, in the drill, search by sight while their partner listens.
• Low vision: lead the whistle part and the sound-based search.
• Limited mobility: play the lost hiker or coordinate the search from a fixed point.

Learning goals

• Know the international mountain distress signals.
• Send a message across a distance without words.
• Stay calm and work as a group during a search.

Equipment for a class of 25

• whistles: 10
• situation cards: 10
• cones: 8

Teacher tip

Stress that a whistle is cheap and should always be in the pack. Common mistake: blowing without counting; teach them to pace one blast every ten seconds.

More activities like this

More main activities for Middle School