Most people don’t ask for help in their daily lives. Asking for help, especially from strangers, is something some people may never do. For the most part it is rare that we even need serious help. Outside of someone in an office environment, or at home, most of the stuff we need help with is not very pressing, dinner, a spreadsheet, or help reaching that thing up on the top shelf.

Burning Man Can Be Different

The Black Rock Desert is hell of a place. It is hot, it is cold, it wants to kill you. There is good reason that (almost) nothing lives on the flat open lake bed of the Black Rock Desert during the summer. The dried up expanse of Lake Lahontan is not soil in the typical sense, it is caustic alkali silt. Without access to water one could quickly get in to trouble out there. It is unlike many festivals or events one might attend. One might have been to various festivals all over the world. One might have spent years camping in deserts and harsh conditions. One might live in Arizona and feel like the desert is nothing. Burning Man can bite all of these people.

When do you need help?

Having an ample supply of water on your person is pretty important, even at night the desert is sucking the life out of you. People have gotten in to trouble with needing water in the Will-Call line, even before getting in the gates.

• If you don’t have water on you, you’re going to need some soon.
• If you feel thirsty, odds are you needed water long ago.
• If you don’t get your electrolytes replenished you’ll feel horrible, or worse.
• If your pee is really dark, or you’re not peeing at all, you need water.
• If you feel confused, dizzy, tired, are cranky and and nauseous, sweating a ton and have muscle cramps, you might be suffering from heat exhaustion.

This is just the hydration related stuff. Sometimes people aren’t doing well and they may not even realize it. Someone else will have to say ‘are you feeling ok? maybe you should drink some water.’ Try to avoid this, keep hydrated. Learn the signs of heat exhaustion, so you can spot it in yourself, or others. See here for what the US Army has to say about the dangers of “heat illness.”

Injuries are not something you want to deal with in the harsh climate of the Black Rock Desert, and you came to Burning Man to have fun. If you’ve hurt yourself and don’t have the means at your disposal to make yourself feel better you probably need some help. That is OK! Tons of people have injured themselves at the event, and there are people well prepared to assist you.

For more serious issues, like horrible injuries, assaults, or worse, you’ll probably need help. There are many people on-site and well established plans to help you.

It’s OK!

If you feel sick, didn’t drink enough water, stepped on some rebar, fell over on someones guy-line, or something much worse, help is not far away.

If the issue isn’t an emergency odds are your neighbors, or someone nearby, can help. It is OK to ask for help. Nobody will be mad if you made the mistake of not having enough water and you need help with that. Nobody will be mad if you got lost and need help finding home. Most people can see that someone needs help before the person even realized they need it. Many people would likely be asking you what you needed before you had gotten a chance to ask them. But do ask. It is OK!

Of all places in the world this is probably one of the best places to need help, everyone knows the climate is harsh, most people bring more supplies than they need, and the cultural environment encourages helping one another. Maybe you need some bandages, or an aspirin, or a feminine hygiene product, or a snack, or some water. Maybe you had too much alcohol and you just need to sit for a bit on your way back to camp. If you’re in a situation where you feel like you need help, ask someone, anyone. Don’t go walking around trying to find the right person. Odds are the right person is right nearby.

If you need it…

The event has three well staffed medical stations. They are on the map you get when you arrive. The main, and most well equipped, station is in the heart of the city near Center Camp, it will be on the map.

These people can deal with the common problems of dehydration, pumping you up with yummie IV fluids, to cuts and scrapes, to life threatening injuries. If you need it, ask for it. They provide services free of charge (unless you need a helicopter ride out, or an ambulance to Reno, of course). They have vehicles that can come to your camp and get you if things are real bad.

Be careful. There are all sorts of things to climb at Burning Man and plenty of open bars with alcohol to make your judgement a bit messed up. While it’s your responsibility to watch out for your own safety, if something goes wrong, the medical guys are there, if you need it.

The medical folks see hundreds of people each event. They will help you with small things and big things. If you feel like something is out of your control and you want to feel better, do not hesitate to get some help from the medical stations. If you’d rather not ask a stranger for help, go to one of the medical stations. They will fix you up.

Maybe you, or your friend, took some substance, or forgot a certain special medication and it looks like help is needed, don’t be afraid to visit one of these medical stations or ranger stations (again, on the map). The black rock rangers aren’t law enforcement. They are well versed in dealing with people who are a bit more than drunk, or whom need some form of counseling, they have a plan, it will be safe for you or your friend, it is there, if you need it.

Even veteran burners end up in the med-tent because they didn’t get enough water, or drank too much booze at the hottest point of the day. It is OK! Sure, it might be embarrassing. Your friends might joke with you about it. But you’ll feel better, they’ll be happy that you’ll feel better and it will all just be part of the experience.

How to ask

Just do it. Tell someone that you need water, you don’t need excuses. Tell someone that you feel really shaky and you need something to snack on and some shade as camp is 1.5 miles away, you don’t need excuses. Walk up to a law enforcement person, or a black rock ranger, and ask for help, explain what you need, that’s why they are there.

Just ask. This isn’t the place where people tend to walk over a dead guy on the sidewalk. If you don’t ask, odds are you’ll soon be in a situation where someone is giving you help.

Avoid someone having to ask you if you need help. Ask for it well before then. Even better than asking for help, is keeping hydrated, well fed, protected from the sun, the cold, and all of the other nasties at the burn. If you find yourself needing help, it is there, of all things that you might worry about at burning man, this shouldn’t be one of them. Worry about your costumes, your art, and the awesome stuff you’ll do. Of course, you’ll want to be prepared, you are responsible for yourself, but when you need something just remember that you’re in a great place and it is OK to ask for help.