This reminds me of a conversation I had with some folks some time back. I was driving across West US and Western Canada. Lots of times I'm in areas with no communications(common in even suburban areas) and ending up in a place well off the road system and with no neighbors within miles. The other person asked: "But what if you have a heart attack? What if you are injured?" My answer was: "I'll either survive, or I'll die, same as if I'm in town."

Sounds flippant, but it isn't. Fact is most folks don't really have a very good understanding of the risks they take in daily life. Neither do they understand the limitations of people who are in the rescue business. Nor, what the chances are of their walking out of hospital after a serious cardiac or other medical event requiring advanced life support. Fact is my risk factors of dying from a serious but survivable event are very little different than a person in an urban setting. What is big league different is the requirement that I keep my head out and understand what I'm doing and how I'm doing it.

The other factor is, as has been mentioned, attitude. Mental attitude is nearly everything. The foundation of that is being self-sufficient. Being able to take care of yourself is, literally, a life saver. But, it requires training and practice and more practice. Buying ID devices, while sounding sensible is way down on the list of places to spend money. Finding and successfully taking a good Wilderness Medicine class is invaluable for nearly anyone who wants to be confident and self-sufficient.

My personal rule that I followed for many years was to leave my plan with someone back in town. Generally I would tell them about where I was going to be and when I'd either return or check in. Instructions were to give me a day or so after check-in to solve my own problems before calling out rescue. Then I carry a PLB, others use SPOT, for the time I am in over my head.

Solve the attitude challenge first. Then all the mechanical details will fall in place very nicely.