Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Preparedness / Survival Education

Since I've started this blog, I've been doing a lot of reading and research on preparedness and survival, and it's lead me to the revelation that I should share some of the resources I've come across, rather than have you wait for my post.

Get Formal Training!

First and foremost, I recommend that you get formal training.  It's one thing to read something on the internet or in a book, or watch a few videos, but getting hands on experience and actually being put through a test is a whole other thing.

The American Red Cross [www.redcross.org] offers training on from their website.  From the "Take a Class" link, I would first suggest the "Emergency Preparedness" and "Disaster Response Training".  Second I'd suggest "First Aid" and possibly "Pet First Aid".  I also recommend you get CPR certified (or re-certified).

If you want to be really hardcore, I also suggest a "Wilderness First Responder" course.  I'm looking into taking the Wilderness First Responder training offered by Wilderness Medical Associates International [www.wildmed.com] sometime in January 2012.  If a major event does occur, a destroyed urban area is essentially a wilderness.

Finally, your local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) [www.citizencorps.gov/cert/], is another great resource to tap into.  I just contacted my local CERT training center to arrange for training and certification.  My local CERT states that training is funded by the Department of Homeland Security, and therefore free.  You really can't beat getting free lifesaving training.

Even if you live your entire life without seeing a major disaster, you will be better off learning potentially lifesaving techniques, as well as become familiarized with the professional emergency response procedure for your community.  Don't you want to know what the plan is to rescue you and your family?

Read, Research, Review, Practice

While you are waiting for your next training class, you should learn as much as you can on your own.  The sites mentioned above are great starting points. They contain much information and reference for preparedness.  Namely how to build survival / bug out kits, how to stock your home, car, workplace, ... with the supplies you need to last at least 72 hours.

Here are a some additional sites to help get you started with your information gathering:
Ready America [ready.gov]
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [fema.gov]
SurvivalBlog.com [SurvivalBlog.com]
Equipped To Survive [equipped.com]
Survivalist Boards Forum [survivalistboards.com]

And don't just learn, let's say, how to start a fire with feather sticks, or how to collect water with a sheet of plastic and a rock, go out and do it! In a controlled environment of course... you don't want to 'learn' your survival skills during an emergency situation.

BUY a few Preparedness / Survival Books

I am currently reading a few books that I have purchased, and do not want to recommend them until I've read them.  Eventually I will make a sticky page with links and references.  You want to actually purchase and own paper books, because if an event does occur, you might not have access to the internet or electricity to power your computer, smartphone, tablet or e-reader.  It does you no good if all of your references are out of reach.

Finally, another resource I am using is a podcast called "The Survival Podcast" [thesurvivalpodcast.com].  Past episodes are available from the website or iTunes for free.  I found that the older episodes are no longer hosted on the website, so I'm using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine [archive.org] to access older versions of the website where I can download mp3 files of past podcasts.  I have decided that listening to the podcast is more beneficial then music, so I listen while I work.  It's an unintrusive way of learning and doing research.

I hope you are able to find some time to take a few steps towards preparedness.  You might not believe TEOTWAWKI is upon us (I sure don't), but you cannot discount that an event may never reach you.  In the past few weeks, I've had more then a few friends without electrical power in their homes for over 24 hours, some even 72 hours.  The roads weren't blocked and they could still go work, and purchase fresh food, but what if they were trapped in their homes?  Did they have enough food and water to survive?

You have to realize that if an event does occur in your neighborhood, you can not rely on being "rescued".  Disasters can render roads useless, and though their may be plenty of supplies and manpower ready to assist you, they might not be able to physically reach you in time, and depending on the size of the disaster area, it might take some time before help can reach you.  Having a small stash of food, water and other supplies can mean life or death, or at the very least, just make you that much more comfortable while you patiently wait for assistance, or give injured or less prepared and less fortunate individuals priority assistance.

I'll close with a concept from my Ju-jutsu sensei, "Learn to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem."

6 comments:

  1. I have a Zombie survival mode I think I'm ready for TEOWAWKI but thank you for the information this will make me a lot more ready for what is to come

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks @CubbieBlu! I hope to one day write a Zombie Survival Guide. For now I hope you enjoy this as much as I did: http://artofmanliness.com/2011/07/11/how-to-make-a-survival-shotgun/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Systematic and informative. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for reading and commenting @Unknown.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ordinary things like floods can turn into a big problem, especially here in the Midwest. In 1970-something I was living in the Southwest Side of Chicago, and I happened to have a canoe next to my house. After a minor flood we gave a couple of people rides to the front stairs of their houses.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Unknown Very good point! A small events can turn into a big problem (or even a full blown disaster) very quickly; not that I think a flood is a small event ;)

    I supposed that since you still actually had your canoe, you must have lashed it down so it did not float away during the flood. I'll be sure to bring that up when I get to a flood preparedness article. Thanks for your input, and sharing a very neat story!

    ReplyDelete