How to Get Rescued
Survival content spends most of its time on self-sufficiency and almost none on being found, which is backwards. The overwhelming majority of Australian survival situations end with someone locating you, and the time to that moment is the single biggest determinant of the outcome.
So the goal is not to last indefinitely. It is to be conspicuous, in the right place, to people who are actively scanning for you.
The emergency numbers in this guide are Australian. If you are somewhere else, call your own country’s emergency number instead — 911 in the United States and Canada, 999 in the United Kingdom, 112 across Europe and on most mobile phones worldwide. The advice itself applies wherever you are.
The 10-minute version
- A registered PLB beats everything else combined. It converts “missing somewhere in 400 square kilometres” into a set of coordinates, usually within an hour.
- Three of anything is a distress signal — three whistle blasts, three fires, three torch flashes. Repeat in cycles and listen between.
- Get to open ground and make a shape. Air search cannot see through canopy, and nothing in nature is a straight line or a rectangle.
Signals, ranked by detection distance
| Signal | Detection range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PLB / EPIRB | Global | Satellite-detected, gives coordinates. Registered with AMSA. The only signal that works with no line of sight |
| Satellite messenger SOS | Global | Two-way, so you know help is coming. Subscription |
| Signal mirror or reflective surface | Many kilometres in sun | Extraordinary range and almost weightless. Aim at aircraft and distant vehicles |
| Smoke by day / fire by night | Kilometres | Three fires in a triangle. Green vegetation on coals makes white smoke |
| Torch or headlamp at night | Kilometres | A flashing light in dark country is remarkably visible from the air |
| Bright colour and geometric shapes | Air search | Spread out clothing, tents, tarps. Straight lines and rectangles read as human |
| Whistle | Several hundred metres | Beats shouting by an enormous margin and lasts all day |
| Ground-to-air symbols | Air search | A large V (assistance required) or X (medical help needed) stamped or built |
| Shouting | Under 100 metres | Exhausting, and gone within an hour |
The gap between the top two rows and everything below is the entire argument for carrying a beacon if you walk, paddle, ride or drive anywhere remote.
What searchers are actually looking for
Understanding this changes what you do.
- Movement. Waving something is far more visible than standing still.
- Contrast against the background. Bright colour on grey rock or green scrub. Anything shiny.
- Straight lines and geometry. Nature does not produce rectangles, so a spread tarp reads instantly as human.
- Smoke, which is visible far beyond anything on the ground.
- Your last known position, working outward. Which is why staying put matters — see If You’re Lost.
- At night: light. A torch is the single most effective night signal.
- Aircraft fly patterns. If a plane or helicopter passes without seeing you, keep signalling — they will often fly the area again, and the second pass is frequently the one that works.
Using each one properly
PLB. Register it with AMSA (free) so responders know who they are looking for. Carry it on your body, not in the pack you might put down. Activate it in the open with a clear view of the sky, and leave it on — it needs time to be located and to update.
Signal mirror. Any reflective surface: a proper mirror, a phone screen, a CD, foil. Aim by holding it near your face and reflecting the flash onto your other outstretched hand, then moving your hand until it lines up with the target. Sweep slowly across the horizon and repeat.
Fire and smoke. Three fires in a triangle if you can manage it. By day, add green leaves or damp vegetation for white smoke; at night, keep them bright. Build them where they can be seen from above — a clearing, a ridge, a beach — and where they cannot spread. In Australia this last point is not optional: on a fire-ban day you would be creating a second emergency.
Torch. Flash toward any noise, light or road. Use a flashing mode if you have one to preserve battery, and point it at the sky when you hear aircraft.
Whistle. Three blasts, pause, repeat. Then listen — a rescue party may be answering you.
Colour and shape. Spread out everything bright you have in a clearing. Weight it down with rocks. Make a straight line or a rectangle rather than a pile.
What actually goes wrong
The beacon is in the pack, and the pack is somewhere else.
The beacon was never registered, so a search launches without knowing who or what.
The beacon is turned off to “save battery” after activating. Leave it on.
People shelter so well they are invisible. Shelter and visibility conflict; balance them deliberately and put signals in the open.
They stay under canopy. Air search cannot see through eucalypt cover.
Everything is a pile, not a shape.
The whistle is in the bottom of the pack rather than on a cord around the neck.
Nobody knew the route, so no search starts. This remains the cheapest and most-skipped preparation.
Signalling stops after one aircraft pass. Keep going.
Thresholds
| Situation | The rule |
|---|---|
| Any remote trip | Registered PLB, carried on your body |
| Activating a beacon | In the open, clear view of the sky, and leave it on |
| Distress signal | Three of anything, in cycles, listening between |
| Aircraft heard | Movement, mirror, torch, smoke. Keep going after it passes |
| Choosing a position | Open ground, visible from above, near shelter you can retreat to |
| Ground markings | Straight lines and rectangles. V for assistance, X for medical |
| Before any trip | Tell someone the route and an overdue trigger |
| Fire as a signal | Never on a total fire ban day. Never where it can spread |
What it costs
| Tier | Spend | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Telling someone your route with an overdue trigger. Spreading bright gear in a clearing. Three-of-anything |
| Solid | ~$25–60 | A whistle on a cord, a headlamp with a flashing mode, a space blanket that doubles as a reflective panel |
| Better | ~$80–150 | A proper signal mirror, a high-vis panel or lightweight tarp, spare batteries |
| The one that matters | ~$350–600 | A registered PLB. Nothing else on this list shortens a search from days to hours |
The drill: five minutes, before the trip
- Put the whistle on a cord around your neck or on a shoulder strap, not in the pack.
- Check the PLB registration is current at the AMSA beacons site, and that the battery is in date.
- Practise the mirror aim once in the backyard, on a wall. It is not intuitive and takes thirty seconds to learn.
- Identify your bright item — jacket, tarp, tent fly — and know it is the thing you spread out.
- Text someone the route and an overdue time with the instruction to call 000.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to signal for help in the bush?
A registered PLB, by a wide margin — it gives searchers your coordinates. Without one, a signal mirror in sun and smoke by day have the greatest range, then a torch at night, then bright colour arranged in geometric shapes, then a whistle.
What is the recognised distress signal?
Three of anything: three whistle blasts, three fires, three torch flashes, repeated in cycles with pauses to listen for a response.
Do I need to register a PLB?
Yes, with AMSA, and it is free. An unregistered beacon still triggers a search, but registration tells responders who they are looking for and how to contact your family.
Should I leave the beacon on after activating it?
Yes. It needs time to be detected and to update your position. Turning it off to save battery is a common and costly mistake.
Why does bright colour need to be spread out?
Because search crews are scanning for contrast and geometry. Nature produces no rectangles, so a flat spread jacket or tarp reads as human instantly, while the same item in a pile does not.
What if a helicopter flies past without seeing me?
Keep signalling. Search aircraft commonly fly an area more than once, and the second or third pass is frequently the one that spots someone.