WORTH THE READ: JEFF SMITH GUEST EDITORIAL

Our many RAF supporters have such vast and varied experience, and we’re capturing some of their words of wisdom to share with you. This guest editorial is by Jeff Smith, a pilot and an RAF Supporter.

Backcountry Season Is Here—Are You Prepared to Take Care of Each Other?

It’s that time of year again when our conversations shift toward backcountry flying. Annuals and condition inspections are wrapping up, new gear has found its way into our airplanes, and many of us are flying more regularly. Plans are being made, routes discussed, and airplanes repositioned. All of this is part of the fun—but it may not be enough.

In June of 2018, during my first backcountry trip, I found myself in the right place at the right time to help a friend. Not by design, but because earlier in life I had training as a medic—training that suddenly mattered when an accident occurred in our group while flying in the Idaho backcountry.

Forty years earlier, I had served as an EMT in southeast Ohio as part of a rural emergency care initiative. Back then, accidents in rural America too often ended badly simply because timely, competent care wasn’t available. That experience stayed with me.

In 2018, a stall-spin accident at a no-go-around strip left a close friend pinned in his aircraft, unconscious and fighting for his life. The three of us who were not involved in the accident worked together to extract him, provide critical care, and get rescue services moving. Because of teamwork—and preparation—that day had a good ending.

I’m sharing this with our RAF community for one reason: as you prepare your airplane, your gear, and your flying skills for the coming season, please consider adding basic first aid training to your toolkit. Courses are widely available through organizations like the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, and even low-cost online options through OSHA. And if you really want to be prepared, there are many Wilderness First Responder courses available that will prepare you for the unique circumstances you’ll likely face in the event of an accident in remote areas. Practical skills, including bleeding control, wound management, bandaging, splinting, spine stable patient packaging, hypothermia management, as well as treating illnesses and critical thinking skills, are covered in these courses.

We all work hard to manage airspeed, fly close to terrain, and land precisely. Those skills keep us safe. But the first aid skills you bring into the backcountry may save someone else’s life. Treat them as seriously as your tie-downs or survival gear.

And while care is being given, make sure someone in your group is summoning help—whether by satellite communicator or modern phone capability. Be intentional about having a plan.

With basic first aid skills and a reliable way to call for help, we improve the odds that we—and our friends—get to come back and do this again.

Submitted March 3, 2026

Posted in Guest Editorial, News