Guest safety on hiking, cycling and horse riding: preparation and rescue

This guide is for hosts, guides and agritourism providers who offer guests hikes, cycling or horse riding. It is good-practice guidance, not an interpretation of law. A requirement for insurance or a specific licence for these activities was not confirmed in the sources, so check with your municipality.

In short

• According to the PD Klekovača mountaineering club from Prijedor, Gorska služba spasavanja (GSS, mountain rescue service) is a volunteer, non-profit organisation that is very professional in training and readiness. Its work begins when other civil and military services are left without an adequate solution.
• According to the same page, the Mountaineering Association of Republika Srpska does not (yet) have a GSS. In BiH there are, among others, GSS Banja Luka, GSS Olympic Centre Jahorina and stations in the Federation, including Mostar.
• No source we opened names a GSS station for East Herzegovina. Plan the route, equipment and reporting so that an accident can be handled with the help of the police and emergency medical services.
• An accident can be reported through the police, emergency medical service stations, any GSS member or military units.

Who it applies to

Anyone taking guests into nature: rural households, guides, organisers of riding and cycling tours, small travel agencies.

What to do

1. Before the trip: choose a route suited to the weakest guest, check the weather forecast and set a return time before dark.
2. Tell another person (family, the household, a neighbour) where you are going, when you return and what to do if you do not report back.
3. Equip the group: water, food, layered clothing, torch and whistle, first aid kit, charged phone. Helmets for riding and cycling, and check the horse and bike before departure.
4. Brief the guests on route difficulty, weather, rules and what to do if someone gets separated.
5. Check insurance. Ask your insurer whether your liability for these activities is covered, and advise guests to check their own travel or accident insurance. A rule requiring it was not confirmed.
6. Save numbers before departure. Put the police and emergency medical service numbers for the area of the trip in your phone. Verify them with the services themselves, as this guide does not confirm them from an official source.
7. In an accident: stay calm, protect the casualty and yourself from immediate danger, give first aid within your ability, mark the spot and alert the services urgently.
8. Calling for help in the mountains: use light or sound signals, six times a minute every other minute, answered by the same signals three times a minute every other minute. Repeat until contact is made. Firing a red flare also signals that help is needed. If a helicopter is used in the rescue, arms in a Y shape mean help is needed and arms in an N shape mean it is not.

What to report

• who is reporting (name, phone) and how they know about the accident
• the precise location
• who the casualty is (name, age)
• what happened and the injuries
• what has been done so far
• weather and the access route

Where to go

• The nearest police station and emergency medical service station, through which an accident can be reported.
• GSS station Mostar, the nearest station listed by PD Klekovača: 062 339 333 (number taken from that page, verify before use).
• Your municipality or tourist organisation, for local contacts and the conditions in force for organising activities.
• Your insurer, for liability cover.