Hand in there. We’ll get to the exciting stuff soon enough.

To prevent choking and suffocation

There’s a reason certain toys are designated for certain ages. What a child can put in their mouth, they will put in their mouth.

When putting babies to sleep make sure there is nothing around them that can cause suffocation.

Watch children during meals. Do they know how to chew properly before swallowing? Cut up food for younger children into bite-sized portions. Stay away from hard candy and foods that can obstruct the airway.

Put trash bags and other plastic bags in places where children can’t get to them. The same with the plastic bag that comes back from the dry-cleaners.

Secure batteries, particularly button batteries, from children.

Task Eight

Mild: Choking/Suffocation Prevention Checklist

Keep small toys, items out of reach of toddlers

Clear sleeping areas for babies from all possible items that could smother them

Keep trash bags and plastic bags out of reach of children

Keep batteries, especially button batteries, out of reach of children

Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide.

When we think survival, we picture someone out in the wilderness in a pine tree lean-to, but we spend most of our time in our home and it’s easy to overlook what we can do to make that environment safer. It is far more likely, in fact a given, that you will experience one of the accidents or emergencies listed in this section.

When I research, I find statistics that are all over the place because people can’t agree on definitions. Once more, those statistics are variables that differ from home to home, so I won’t quote many (those of you with pocket protectors and calculators can google them) but let’s do an Area Study for your home in terms of the most likely areas of concern.

1. Falls are a leading cause of injury and death. This is more likely based on the previous part of the Area Study: your personal physical condition. Older people, naturally, are more susceptible to falls and getting injured. One in three people, 65 or older, will suffer a fall leading to serious injury, if not death.
2. Poisoning goes in the opposite direction for susceptibility: it is more likely for children to be seriously hurt or killed by ingesting a toxic agent.
3. Children are also susceptible to choking, suffocation, drowning and scalding. This includes airway obstruction.
4. Water leads to drowning. Do you have a pool? Water nearby?
5. Fires and burns are likely dangers.

To prevent falls

Clear clutter. Pick things up and put them away. How many times have we tripped over something that doesn’t belong on the floor?

Look at your rugs. Are the edges secured? Are folds flattened? Do they slide? Use tape and rug mats underneath to prevent this.

Bathroom: place grab bars and non-slip maps in all bathrooms. The bathroom is very dangerous because water and soap makes things slippery; and if you do fall you’re going to hit something hard like a counter or tile floor. We never land on the fluffy pile of freshly laundered towels, do we?

Lighting: make sure all areas are sufficiently lit, particularly staircases. When we lived in a 100 year old house, a back stairwell didn’t have a light in it. The stairs also turned near the bottom. We bought a number of motion sensor, battery powered lights and put them in that stairwell and all over the house. Often we placed them just as you enter a room, inside the door jam or on the wall, low down. They have been life-savers.

Always wear slippers or shoes with rubber soles. I can attest to the danger of just socks on wooden stairs. Never a good combination.

Make your stairs safe. If you have small children or they visit, become an expert at installing childproof gates at the top and bottom of stairs. Have handrails for all stairs.

Use ladders properly and do not exceed specifications. Always place on solid footing. Have someone hold taller ladders at bottom when in use. Make sure leaning ladders are placed against a solid point.

Task Six

Mild: Fall Prevention Checklist

Clear Clutter

Secure edges of all rugs

Secure rugs to floors so they don’t bunch or slide

Place grab bars and non-slip mats in bathrooms

Make sure all stairways and dark areas are adequately lit

AMIR motion sensor light: https://amzn.to/2LwlkKY

Wear Slippers or shoes with rubber bottoms at all times

Childproof stairs with gates at top and bottom

Do all stairs have handrails?

Use ladders properly according to specifications

Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide.

Further evaluate the people on your A-Team.

Task Five

Mild: Evaluate and list the following for you and each member of your A-Team.

Name:

Overall Physical Condition:

Medical Status:

Allergies:

Medications:

Ability to walk/run:

Swimming ability:

Able to drive? What types vehicles?

Special Needs:

By looking at these checklists you can see what assets and liabilities you and your A-Team have.

Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide.

For future tasks, I include specific information about gear and equipment. The items linked are for reference purpose. I personally have all things listed. Feel free to search further for what you want. I need to disclose I am using affiliate links for items on Amazon and the GAIA app later on. Not just because it’s required, but to understand I am giving examples and linking to things on Amazon makes it easier to show gear as there’s an overwhelming amount of things out there. One rule of thumb: the cheaper the gear costs, the cheaper the gear.

Also, any money made off affiliate links is donated to charity, primarily the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

 Also, sometimes things are no longer available, so I add the item description. Please email me if any links to gear, web sites, etcetera are no longer valid and I can update immediately.

You can get whatever you want, wherever you want. Also, if you want to talk to experts, I recommend finding the closest REI store or local outdoor store and talking to the people who work there.

Many households don’t have a basic first aid kit. If you don’t, it’s critical that you have one. I’ll have more information on medical gear later, but at least a basic kit to start.

Task Three

Mild: If you don’t have one, get a first aid kit for your home.

Example:

M2 Basics First Aid Kit

https://amzn.to/2KDaYKg

Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide.

Unless you plan on being totally alone in an emergency there are others who are on your “A-Team”.

A-TEAM refers to the people you will be with during an emergency/disaster. In Special Forces, the core operational element is the A-Team. For many of us that means our family. For others, it could be a group of people we’ve coordinated with beforehand (more on that shortly). In an emergency it could also be the people we’re trapped with. I use this term instead of constantly referring to family/team/friends.

Do you have all the key information about those people? Do you have their phone number memorized or written down in case you aren’t able to access the address book in your cell phone?

Do you have an Out of Area Contact and an Immediate Rally Point and Emergency Rally Point?

IRP stands for Immediate Rally Point. This is a point outside of your home/work/school where your team can gather if they have to evacuate for some reason. The most likely reason for this would be if there was a fire. It needs to be a place that’s easily identifiable and not far from the home/work/school and everyone can find in the dark.

It’s also the place where your A-Team will rendezvous if they can’t go into the home/work/school for whatever reason, but need to assemble from other locations, such as school and/or work.

A street intersection works well. Or a nearby building.

ERP stands for Emergency Rally Point. It is where everyone will assemble if they can’t get to the IRP or home. This is also where your A-Team will rendezvous if they have to evacuate the home/work/school during a moderate or extreme emergency and have to stay remote for at least a day or more, with the possibility of not returning to the home.

Task Two

Mild: A-Team Contact Information & Alert Flow

A-Team Member #1

Name:

Cell phone #:

Work/School address/phone#:

A-Team Member #2

Name:

Cell phone #:

Work/School address/phone#:

A-Team Member #3

Name:

Cell phone #:

Work/School address/phone#:

A-Team Member #4

Name:

Cell phone #:

Work/School address/phone#:

A-Team Member #5

Name:

Cell phone #:

Work/School address/phone#:

A-Team Member #6

Name:

Cell phone #:

Work/School address/phone#:

Out of Area Contact*, Immediate Rally Point, Emergency Rally Point

Out of Area Contact Location/Phone #:

Immediate Rally Point location:

Emergency Rally Point location:

Mild: Emergency Information

Poison Control:  800-222-1222

Family Doctor:

Health Insurance Phone # and Account #s:

Insurance Company Phone # and Account #s:

Closest Police Station Location/Phone:

Closest Emergency Room Location/Phone:

Closest Fire Station Location/Phone:

Power/Gas/Utilities Company Phone #:

Water Company Phone #:

*The out of area emergency point of contact is someone who would be unaffected by a local disaster or weather event and everyone on your team can contact to update their status. This is in case you can’t contact A-Team members in the midst of the emergency/disaster.

Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide.