©InfoThis quick activity could be a five-minute filler or a starter to a lesson. Or it could be turned into a brief assembly presentation. No equipment is required and no one gets hurt.
Present the following situation to students, and pose the question at the end. Explain that it is not a trick. It is not a puzzling conundrum with a weird inventive answer. There's a straightforward explanation, that could be well worth remembering.
A group of friends have been hanging out on a beach and exploring the surrounding rocks and cliffs. The tide is coming in rapidly and they suddenly panic. They start to climb the cliffs, looking for a path. They get quite high up when one of them slips and twists his ankle badly. He thinks it may be broken.
The group realise that it's doubtful if any of them can climb to safety up the sheer cliff. They will also struggle to get down. In any case the wind and tide are driving powerful waves onto the rocks below.
They begin to get seriously worried when a helicopter, part of the coastguard service, approaches them. They realise that this is their chance of being rescued.
To make sure the helicopter crew sees them, two of them stand up straight, one arm raised high in the air, just as they would to attract attention in class. They're happy and smiling as the 'copter gets closer.
The helicopter rocks from side to side for a little while. It then flies off and doesn't return.
Why?
Invite students' thoughts. What happened? Why did the helicopter see them, and then disappear?
After appropriate amount of discussion, give, or confirm, the answer. The group had given the helicopter the international signal meaning "All okay, assistance not required."
That is done by raising one arm, while holding the other down by their side.
The side to side rocking motion of the aircraft is the signal meaning "message received and understood".
If the group wanted to signal that they needed picking up, they should have raised both arms in a V sign.
The signal to indicate medical assistance needed is to lie on your back with arms flat on the ground straight above the head.
Discuss how important it is to know this kind of information. Most people will never require it. In reality, it is unlikely that the UK coastguard would fail to keep a further lookout for the party. But one such incident did occur in remote part of the Alaskan wilderness. A wildlife photographer, Carl McCunn, apparently raised his right hand in celebration to a plane, which then flew off thinking he didn't want assistance. He wrote in his diary, which was found after his death: ''Turns out that's the signal for 'ALL OK. DO NOT WAIT!' Man, I can't believe it!''
Ask how the group might have felt as they watched the helicopter leave and not come back. What would they have done next?
Take action
Learn and practise the emergency signals, and the responses. Discuss why people should be very careful about practising signals, especially ones calling for emergency assistance, in public.
Explore some little-known aspects of contacting the emergency services in 999 beyond the basics.
Learn the standard radio spelling alphabet that’s used by police, emergency services, the military, air traffic controllers and radio operators. Alfa, bravo, charlie...
Credits
This activity was written by PJ White and produced in May 2010.
This resource and other free educational materials are available at www.redcross.org.uk/education