POST FALLS - A whistle is on Kai Tarver's wish list, but it's not to drive her relatives crazy.

This, she said, would be an emergency whistle.

Students in the Post Falls School District didn't have school on Friday due to it being the end of the quarter, but some, including Tarver, still got an education that could save their life.

Those in the district's GAP before- and after-school program received wilderness survival pointers from Tom Newcomb, a volunteer with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department's search and rescue unit.

Tarver was reminded that carrying a whistle can help searchers find you if you get lost in the woods.

"I think this should make everyone get a whistle," Tarver said after the presentation at Mullan Trail Elementary. "I don't go too far - I stay around camp - but it's still good advice."

Newcomb said the national Hug-A-Tree outdoor safety program is geared toward children, but even adults, including huckleberry pickers, could have used the simple pointers to assist rescue efforts in North Idaho's back country in recent years.

"It's a great thing to talk to kids because they hear you, remember things and try to do them," said Newcomb, adding that children will also pass along advice to their parents.

"But adults tend to only hear parts, and they end up in more trouble than kids."

Whistles are louder than voices and save on vocal cords from yelling when you're calling for help. Three blows - or calls for help - are a signal that you're in trouble.

Other simple and common-sense items to carry, but which are often overlooked, are a large garbage bag (with ripped portion to breathe out of) to help stay dry, flashlight and a jacket to wrap around your waist and put on if you get cold.

"Take a jacket even it it's warm outside and you think you won't need it," Newcomb said. "It can get cold in the mountains, especially at night."

Other pointers include wearing bright clothes, remembering your surroundings or landmarks, avoid running as it could increase your chances of getting injured and staying put next to a tree (hence the name Hug-A-Tree) to assist rescuers.

"We search by process of elimination," Newcomb said, adding that moving around could delay rescuers from finding you.

Newcomb told the students, if they get lost, to not worry about animals as most avoid humans. And, if a search dog finds you, don't try to follow it back to the rescuers.

The best survival tool, Newcomb said, could be using your head and remembering survival skills rather than panicking.