Know how to signal for help in an emergency situation?
The Morse Code for SOS is the most commonly understood way to send a distress signal, whether by sight (such as flashes of light from a flashlight or mirror), or sound (like a whistle, a honk, or telegraph).
There’s signaling by semaphore (flags), signaling with flare(s), smoke signals (burn rubber or whatever calls attention to your situation–remember Robinson Crusoe?), waving your arms, gun fire in the air, a “Mayday” call for help . . .
Wikipedia explains, “With the development of audio radio transmitters, there was a need for a spoken distress phrase, and “Mayday” (from French m’aidez “help me”) was adopted by the 1927 International Radio Convention as the spoken equivalent of SOS.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOS
“When none of the above-described officially sanctioned signals are available, attention for assistance can be attracted by anything that appears unusual or out of the ordinary . . . For hundreds of years inverted national flags were commonly used as distress signals. . . . A ship flying no flags may also be understood to be in distress. If any flag is available, distress may be indicated by tying a knot in it and then flying it upside-down, making it into a wheft.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_signal
“The recognised mountain distress signals are based on groups of three, or six in the UK and the European Alps. A distress signal can be three fires or piles of rocks in a triangle, three blasts on a whistle, three shots from a firearm, or three flashes of a light, in succession followed by a one-minute pause and repeated until a response is received. Three blasts or flashes is the appropriate response.
“In the Alps, the recommended way to signal distress is the Alpine distress signal: give six signals within a minute, then pause for a minute, repeating this until rescue arrives. A signal may be anything visual (waving clothes or lights, use of a signal mirror) or audible (shouts, whistles, etc.). The rescuers acknowledge with three signals per minute.
“In practice either signal pattern is likely to be recognised in most popular mountainous areas as nearby climbing teams are likely to include Europeans or North Americans.
“To communicate with a helicopter in sight, raise both arms (forming the letter Y) to indicate “Yes” or “I need help,” or stretch one arm up and one down (imitating the letter N) for “No” or “I do not need help”. If semaphore flags are available, they can possibly be used to communicate with rescuers.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_signal
Emergency Prep--some ideas and options 