If I were to survive a helicopter crash, then nothing would be off the table to ensure that I would live long enough to be rescued. The definition of survival is “the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances”. Entire TV show series and movies are dedicated to survival stories, where the hero or heroine has to go to drastic, and often disgusting, measures to see another day. People will do whatever they must for their own survival and quite often they lose their humanity in the process.
I plan to survive while keeping my humanity intact, without letting my emotions get in the way of making logical decisions that will prolong my life, even if difficult. The first thing I would do would be to take care of my broken arm by finding a way to bind it or set it. Since I do not have any medical training or experience, setting the broken bone is out of the question. Using either a shirt or a jacket, or whatever spare fabric I can find in the helicopter’s debris, I would secure my arm to my chest by tying the fabric snugly across my shoulder and back so that it could not be jostled.
Allowing the arm to dangle and possibly get worse would only increase the pain and lengthen the healing process, so making sure that neither would happen would be my first priority. Secondly, I would loot the crash site and the bodies of those who did not survive. While that seems disrespectful and a bit morbid, it would be necessary. I would also take a few extra pieces of clothing if it were salvageable; layers would be needed to survive the low temperatures. One of the deceased could have a lighter or a pocket knife on them that could mean life or death for me in my survival journey.
I would scavenge through the helicopter’s wreckage for whatever supplies were left. Depending on what type of helicopter, there could be anything from medical supplies to weapons and ammunition on board. Most aerial carries are normally equipped with First Aid kits at the least, so that would be something I would find and take. The helicopter might have even been equipped with parachutes, and if so, then the parachute’s material would be useful as a shelter. There may also be food among the debris if those who did not survive had backpacks with them during the doomed flight.
The best bet for water or food before rummaging in the forest would be to check in the bags the deceased might have carried. After scavenging all I could from the wreckage and the bodies of the crash victims, I would go into the forest in search of firewood, food, water, and shelter for the night, if the helicopter’s wreckage were deemed unfit. However, if the wreckage were still intact enough to be used as shelter, that would definitely be considered an option instead of a cave or whatever else the forest had to offer.
I would not leave the crash site without marking a tree closest to the wreckage and other trees along the way to make sure I could find my way back if needed, since it would be the most likely outcome that the rescue teams would find the helicopter before they would find a lone human wandering in the woods. I would take whatever | had that was sharpest-a knife, a rock, a piece of metal—and draw an X into the bark of the trees as I looked for shelter. A forest would have many resources.
There would always be the high possibility of fallen tree limbs that I could use for a fire once I found somewhere dry and out of the storm. I could gather snow to boil so that I would have water to drink. Food, however, might be the hardest to come by. Animals would be in hibernation due to the weather and wild berries and nuts would not be ripe and ready for the picking during a snowstorm. Humans can survive longer without food than water, so water would be the first priority. Once I had found shelter, gathered firewood, and successfully started a fire, then I would rest.
Sleep would definitely be a necessity, especially with a broken arm and no telling how many bumps and bruises I had received from the impact of the crash. Humans do not heal without proper rest. Surely at this point | would be freezing, starving, in a world of pain, and both mentally and physically exhausted from what I had been through. If I had found a First Aid kit, which contained some kind of painkillers, I would take several to help with the agony of my veral to help with the agony of my broken arm.
Using the parachutes and extra clothes I had taken from the crash site, I would make a nest of sorts and bed down for the night. After resting would come the hunt for food and water. I doubt there would have been a whole month’s supply of sustenance in any of the deceased’s backpacks or the wreckage. Assuming that the evening before I had been able to gather plenty of wood for a fire, I would leave the safety of wherever I had taken shelter—my best guess would be a cave of sorts—while layered in the stolen clothes and go out in search of whatever I could find in the forest for nourishment.
To be totally honest, I do not have any knowledge of what is edible in the wild in real life, so I will not lie and say that I do have that kind of knowledge in this hypothetical situation). There are few animals who venture out into a snowstorm, and jackrabbits are one of them. Hunting is not a skill of mine but it would quickly become something I must learn. In hopes of finding a rabbit to hunt, kill, and cook for my meal, I would search for burrows and for tracks in the snow.
If all else failed, I would return to my cave and consume whatever I had found in the wreckage. However, I would first ration the food so that whatever I had found, granola bars or potato chips or crackers, would last as long as possible. I would do the same with the water. No matter how lacking the food department became, I would refuse to eat the flesh of the dead crash victims. I believe that would be crossing the line and would ruin the goal of keeping my humanity unscathed. More rest would ensue after I ate my meager meal so that my body could continue to heal.
If I were to have to survive two weeks in a forest full of snow, I would divide my time between hunting, sleeping, and going back to the site of the wreckage. The most logical conclusion would be that any rescue squad would find the helicopter, see the decaying bodies, and then assume that there had not been any survivors. Since any kind of “SOS” I would try to write in the snow would be swept away, I would use either a tree limb or one of the helicopter’s blades to tie some spare fabric, clothing, or a parachute to signal for help.
Then, with whatever paper and pencil or pen I could find—if there were any in the wreckagewould leave a note with the wreckage stating my name, my situation, and how I was the lone survivor and where to find me by following the markings I had left on the trees. Sticking close to the site would be smart, but I would continue to take refuge elsewhere at nighttime because of predators such as wolves. Also, there would be the possibility of other items among the debris that I had not uncovered during my initial search.
I could use anything metal or sharp as weapon if the pocket knife I had hopefully found did not suffice; or the larger chunks of debris could be used to create a more secure shelter or an animal trap. Until rescued, I would plan to fight for my life while keeping my humanity intact, without allowing my emotions get in the way of making rational decisions that would prolong my life, even if difficult to go through with. The survival of my body would be important, but the survival of my soul, mind, and heart even more so. There would be no point to living through such a disaster if I could not live with myself after everything I had done.