This is particularly key in moderate emergencies. During natural disasters such as hurricane, flood, extreme weather, wild fire, etc. an organized neighborhood can be essential to survival. When I say neighborhood, I also mean your work place. On Nine-Eleven, offices in the World Trade Center that were well organized and had emergency evacuation plans with designated personnel acting in key positions had much higher survival rates. Does your place of business have an emergency plan? Is it practiced?

I touch on things like this in The Green Beret Guide to Seven Great Disasters series of books, showing how people either helped cause a disaster or helped avert one.

One thing to ask yourself is what are the boundaries of a neighborhood? Realistically, you’re looking at around fifteen to twenty households. Larger than that and it can become unwieldy.

Your neighborhood might already have such a team. If so, join it and find out how well organized and prepared they are. If not, then take it on yourself to start one. Usually your larger community will have resources to help you do this. Contact emergency services and the Red Cross and ask.

Do you know who your neighbors are and what they do for a living? What special skills they have? That person you think is a nurse going off to work in her scrubs might actually be someone who works at a kennel washing dogs. Don’t make assumptions.

Inventory the neighborhood:

Chain saws

Winches

Four wheel drive vehicles

CB and other radios, including satellite

Water purifying systems

Where are all the gas meters and propane tanks?

Who needs special help? Focus on the handicapped, the elderly, and children who might be home alone at periods of the day.

Each household should have large placards made up with OKAY on one side and HELP on the other. Use fluorescent colored poster board available at your local supermarket. Have this stored near a front window under a rug. Display as needed.

Determine where the neighborhood gathering site will be; in essence the neighborhood IRP. People should go there before trying to run around and rescue others. Organization saves time and lives.

Have a contact list tree of who alerts who. In the military we always had alert systems. This is a way of communicating so each person knows who they are responsible for contacting. There are events such as wildfires where this is life-saving.

This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide

For many of us, a ‘team’ is a no-brainer’. Our family is our survival team. For others, though, this is a decision: whether to try to make it on their own or join forces with others. There are advantages and disadvantages to a team, which also change depending on whether you have a mild, moderate or extreme emergency. Here are some for you to consider:

Advantages

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You can’t be an expert on everything. Having an array of people who bring different, needed skills, is important. Some people just can’t handle being alone. Can you? Have you ever spent a night out in nature alone?

A sense of purpose. In combat, soldiers fight for each other, not for a cause. Being a member of a team can increase your motivation to get out of yourself and fight for the survival of those who you care about.

In an extreme emergency, long term survival will eventually depend on team building. In this scenario you often won’t have much of a choice who you will ally with. Groups will form with different agendas. You have to evaluate your goals, and also whether you will be an asset to the team. What do you bring to the table?

Disadvantages

You make a larger target. It is indeed better to run away rather than fight. Your running away is limited by the slowest member. The only soldier I had to remove my A-Team couldn’t keep up with us in the field, carrying our extremely heavy combat load. You are also more likely to be discovered in an extreme survival situation as part of a team.

You are letting others in on your survival plan. The lazy survivalist simply lets others prepare, then comes in and plunders.

I’ve consulted with wealthy clients and always have to bring up my inverse rule of security: the more people you bring in to provide security, in an extreme situation where money will no longer be a factor, the more dangerous you have made your situation.

Will the other members of the team be prepared? If it’s your family, it’s your responsibility to get them ready since you’re reading this.

Will the members of the team actually pull their weight? To wait until a survival situation to evaluate team-members is foolhardy. The more people on the team, the more security gets looser. I call it the trust ripple effect. How many people do you trust? Trust with your life? How many people do they trust? In the movie Contagion, as soon as the CDC character tells his wife about the outbreak and to get out of town, warning her to ‘TELL NO ONE’, what does she immediately do? Tell someone. As Ben Franklin said: “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” In covert operations we tended to be very paranoid, but you’re not paranoid if they are out to get you.

Where to find survival A-Team members?

Most likely it will be your family.

Think about last Thanksgiving. Do you really want to huddle in a BOHS with those people? Joking.

Not.

In mild to moderate emergencies, you will want to gather your family and team members as quickly as possible.

Other places to find potential survival buddies:

Your friends.

From your job. Actually, you should quietly evaluate your co-workers anyway, because the percentage of time you spend at work is the percentage chance an emergency or natural disaster will strike while you are among them. On Nine-Eleven certain co-workers proved to be true life-savers.

Your church

Hunting and garden clubs. Two extremes here, but each brings something to the table.

Those attending self-defense classes or survival workshops. Hiking clubs.

This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide

This is basically studying the environment around you in more detail, but with an eye to what it would be like to traverse it (whether by car, foot, boat, etc) and survive in it.

Climate: Note variations from the norm and the months in which they occur. Note any extremes in climate.

Temperature: Know the extremes and norms. If you’ve lived somewhere for several years, you probably have a good feel for this. However, if you are new to an area, take some time to study up.

Rainfall and snow: This is a good news, bad news area. The good news is rainfall and snow provide water. The bad news is they can make shelter difficult. They can also lead to hypothermia.

Seasonal effect of weather: There are places where weather can change drastically in just a day. When we lived in Colorado there was a saying: If you don’t like the weather, just wait. It will be different in a couple of days. It’s not just seasonal, also consider altitude.

Elevation and Temperature

It’s a rule of thumb that on a sunny day every 1,000 feet gained in altitude averages a drop in temperature of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit and on a cloudy day 3.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

Every year, several hikers die on Mount Washington in the summer because they start out in short and t-shirts with no cold weather gear and freeze to death before they reach the summit after getting caught in a storm that also reduces visibility to almost nothing and they lose the trail.

Terrain:  Understand the terrain features in your AO, especially easily recognizable ones that can keep you oriented such as coast-lines and rivers and the general direction of mountain ranges or ridgelines. If you are traveling, have an idea of the terrain you are going through, especially if it is different from what you are used to.

What are the characteristics of valleys and plains. What directions do the valleys run? What is the general degree of slope. Considering your physical condition, and that of members of your team, what can you climb and descend?

Natural routes for and natural obstacles to cross-country movement. When we lived on Whidbey Island, it fascinated us how isolated the city of Seattle is by land. There are only a handful of roads into the Seattle area, particularly from the east through the Cascades. And even to the south, coming up from Oregon, your routes are limited. The same is true for Los Angeles and San Diego, where the San Andreas fault and the mountains are to the east and could easily isolate those areas by land. Look at where you live and check your area for your choke points.

Overall region: mountainous, prairie, mountains, coastal, swamp, etc: If you live in a forested area, have you ever tried moving cross-country in it? After doing survival training in the deep woods of Maine, one can easily understand why Stephen King writes horror. It is almost impossible to travel through some forests in Maine. A woman died after getting off the Appalachian Trail in Maine and was unable to find the trail again. The same is true of the Pacific Northwest. The first time you try moving through nature shouldn’t be the survival situation. Get off the path and see how tough the going is in the land around you.

Rivers and streams; Bridges, other crossing points; main rivers and direction of flow. What is downstream? What is upstream?

For rivers and streams, understand the water system. What is the natural water drainage system in your area? This can help in determining location and direction.

Rivers can be a route of transportation or an obstacle. During one mission my team had to cross a glacial river. We knew the water would be just above freezing so we carried a dry suit with us so the lead scout could swim a line across the river and we could build a rope bridge. When we got to the river we saw a large animal (bigger than us) swept away by the current. Change in plans. We ended up crossing the river by using the girders underneath the bridge at night with security on high ground employing night vision goggles to watch for traffic.

What rivers and streams are in your area? If you have to cross them, how will you? Remember, bridges are choke points. In extreme emergencies expect unsavory elements to use this to their advantage.

Characteristics of rivers and streams, including widths, currents, banks, depths, kinds of bottoms, and obstacles. Note seasonal variations, such as dry beds, flash floods. A creek can turn into a raging torrent in the spring when the snow pack melts. The Tennessee River drops in the winter as the TVA lowers the water level via dams to prevent flooding. While obvious in retrospect, I researched why and the answer is simple: in winter the vegetation does not absorb as much water as in summer, thus flooding can occur quicker.

If on a river, what is downstream? Upstream?

Lakes, ponds, swamps: What lakes, ponds and swamps are in your area? These kinds of areas can be difficult to move through. However, that also makes them a great area to hide in. Think of what Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox” was able to achieve during the Revolutionary War in the low country of South Carolina. What water is drinkable? Always assume all water in nature is not drinkable and needs to be purified, but for purposes of the Area Study, you should know the status of all water sources in your AO.

Coastline: Learn about tides and waves along with the effect of wind and current. We’ll cover this in more detail in special environments, but many people have lost their lives not understanding the local tides and the power of tidal surge during a storm.

Water is extraordinarily powerful. You cannot defeat it. Hurricane Sandy caused so much devastation because it was a combination of the storm and the tide. When I lived on the Intracoastal Waterway in South Carolina it was amazing to see the difference between a spring tide and a neap tide (explained later). When a storm hits in concert with high tide, that’s a worst-case scenario.

Water is powerful! During maritime operations training, we camped on a lighthouse island off the coast of Maine for several weeks as our base of operations. My team sergeant, experienced in water operations, had us swim landward into the mouth of a river, while the tide was going out, to teach us a lesson. No matter how hard we finned toward land, we were pushed seaward.

Primary Roads: What are the primary roads in your area? Assume these will be clogged in a moderate or extreme emergency.

Secondary Roads: Are there ways to get out of the area using backroads that people will be less likely to take?

Natural and man-made routes on foot: If you have to bug out on foot, what route will you take?

Evacuation routes: Do you know your hurricane evacuation route? Your tsunami evacuation route? More on this under those specific topics in Survival.

Rail lines: What rails lines are near you? What is being transported on those lines? Is toxic material being carried? If a train derails and that material is released, what should you do? Are there abandoned rail lines in your AO? Rail lines, whether in use or abandoned, can often be excellent on-foot escape routes. Knowing the rail lines can also help in navigation and orientation.

Underground: In urban environments, there is often an entire world underground. There are over 10,000 miles of tunnels underneath New York City and no one knows all of them.

Water sources: Note ground, surface, seasonal, and potable. Find the closest natural source of water to your home, work and ERP. Assume it needs to be purified. Does it flow year round?

Food sources: Seasonal or year-round. What is cultivated in your area? Include vegetables, grains, fruits, and nuts. What farms are in your area? What crops do they raise?

What natural food supplies are in your AO? Include berries, fruits, nuts, and herbs. What is edible in your environment?

In your Sustainment Library I recommend a couple of books (listed later) on edible plants and also those that can be used medicinally.

Domesticated animals in the area. Aka, a food source. What is around you?

Wildlife. Include animals, fish, and fowl. What do people hunt? What’s the fishing like? What are people fishing for?

This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide

Before we discuss the ERP, we need to consider when you would use it. The most likely scenario is if there is an event where you can’t get to your home or to the IRP near your home. A flood, wildfire, earthquake, etc. could cause this.

Thus, you need a location where your A-Team will meet. This place is where they will automatically go if there is no communication. After major disasters, many people rue that they didn’t have such a spot picked out because they spent many hours and even days separated and wondering about each other’s status. (Note- this is if they didn’t have, or couldn’t use, the out of area point of contact).

There are no hard and fast rules when you should utilize the ERP. Every situation is going to be different. The key is at the very least pick the ERP and make sure everyone knows where it is. It cannot be chosen after the emergency has begun.

You can choose the house of a friend/relative that is out of the immediate area of your home. Someone’s school or work place. A noticeable terrain feature in a park. An intersection. It is not a place to hide; the BOHS is that. This should be a point easily identifiable and that everyone can get to.

Choose the ERP based on the Area Study you’ve just done. If your most likely threat is tsunami, you pick an ERP out of range of that event. The same with a flood. It should be out of the range of the most  likely threats, yet a point where everyone in your A-Team can get to.

There are apps that can be used to help locate family members; however, like every other thing associated with your cell phone they require power, cell coverage, etc. Be sure to make sure these apps work and that they are installed on all phones. Be aware that some can be heavy draws on battery life if active. Each has pros and cons so do a little research. I use Road ID on a daily basis when out biking or kayaking, just in case. I like that it will send a notification to my emergency contact if I am stationery for more than a designated period or pass an overall time limit, along with tracking my location.

You use the ERP in conjunction with your out of state emergency contact.

This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide

GPS AND MAPS

A key step in conducting an Area Study is to have maps. Actual, physical maps. We are a society that is overly reliant on technology in many ways. Cell phones for communication are one. GPS for navigating is another.

GPS stands for Global Positioning System. A basic understanding of GPS is useful so we understand what it can and can’t do.

Let’s be a little geeky. The GPS receiver gets a signal from each satellite with the exact time it is sent. By subtracting the time the signal was sent from the time it was received the GPS receiver can calculate how far it is from the satellite. The receiver knows where the satellite is in orbit so it has a fix on that satellite. For our GPS receiver to work it needs to make contact and get a fix with at least 3 GPS satellites for a two dimensional fix (latitude and longitude) and 4 satellites for a three dimensional fix (adding in elevation). If you are only getting 3 satellites and aren’t at sea level, your actual location could be different from what the GPS is showing. If you’re up at a high altitude in the mountains, this can become significant. Usually, though, this isn’t a problem. Of the 31 active GPS satellites, there are usually 6 in range from most places on the Earth’s surface.

Ever notice that it takes your GPS varying amounts of time to get a fix? If the GPS hasn’t been on recently it could take as long as 30 seconds. Tall buildings or other obstructions can also make it take longer. Most GPS accuracy is to within 5 meters.

Cellphone GPS units act a bit differently incorporating Assisted-GPS to get a fix quickly. They use cell phone tower data to assist. Sometimes they can give you a fix without even accessing satellites. This only works though it you are in cellphone and Wifi coverage.

Another thing to consider is whether the map coverage you’re using is in your device’s memory or downloading. Ever have the GPS map become blank when you’re out of coverage? We should always download our local area tiles for whatever mapping GPS we use. When I plan trips, I download the map tiles into memory for the route and destination. This allows the GPS to work faster and gives me a map even if I can’t download it live. For your vehicle’s GPS, are the maps you’re using in the memory or downloading? Put them in the memory.

I’ve noticed when biking and using GPS that every so often it will tell me it has lost the signal. Some of these ‘dead spots’ are the same, but others seem random. Which brings me to this significant point: you can’t count on GPS!

There are other problems with GPS:

They need the satellites working. EMP—electro-magnetic pulse, whether natural (solar flare) or man-made (nuclear weapon) can wipe those satellites out.

The GPS receiver, whether in your vehicle, a cell phone or handheld GPS receiver, requires power to work. Cell phones and batteries can die. Commercial airplanes are required to have backup navigation to GPS. Just in case. We need to do the same.

Sadly, many people no longer carry paper maps in their car. Beyond that, many don’t know how to read a road map, never mind a topographical one.

When I was a brand new butter-bar second lieutenant in the First Cavalry Division, I was told succinctly that a platoon leader had to do two things well: Maintain communications on the radio and navigate. Failing either of those two and your time as leader was limited and your career in the Army over.

In a survival situation, especially moderate to extreme, it is highly likely you will have to move from point A to point B. It also possible you won’t have a GPS to do that with.

Have a road map as a backup. I keep a Rand McNally binder with maps of North America inside my Jeep. It gets used so much (even when I have GPS because I like to wander) that I buy a new one every year because a few heavily perused pages get worn out and torn.

While Rand McNally is great for your car, get topographic maps of your locale. The scale you want for local area is 1:24,000. You can download and print out maps at this scale for free from the sites below. You can also buy a large map book of your state with topographic maps.

For the National Geographic maps it’s pretty cool because you can download the maps in sets of five where the first is an overview of the quadrant, then the other four are printer sized. Print out in color!

You can also get maps from USGS. These maps allow you to pick the details you want. You can get different scales. 7.5 minute is 1:24,000. Which means one inch on the map equals 24,000 inches on the ground or 2000 feet. 15 minutes is 1:63,360.

Task Fourteen: GPS/Map Checklist

Get a road atlas for each car

Rand McNally Road Atlas. https://amzn.to/36IVqA9

National Geographic Maps:

http://www.natgeomaps.com/trail-maps/pdf-quads

Get a waterproof map case to put your topo maps in, with dummy cord.  https://amzn.to/34yYE6N

Get a topographic atlas of your State

DeLorme Tennessee Atlas & Gazetteer: https://amzn.to/3dbMyo8

Download the map tiles for your area of operation for your car GPS (if possible), your phone, and handheld GPS (if used).

The topographic maps should include your immediate area. If you believe you are going to have to evacuate, get maps covering the route to your BOHS. Then get a waterproof map case.

Get a dummy cord (a piece of 550 cord works fine) to tie the map off to you. The one above already comes with a cord. Seriously. I can’t tell you how many times that dummy cord kept me from being stupid and losing my map. In fact, tie off all important items. I clip my Jeep key to the loop on my pants every time I get out of it when I’m out in the wilderness. I don’t trust putting things in my pockets.

You can order laminated, waterproofed maps, but they are more difficult to carry because of limited folding. This is a judgment call on your part. I prefer the paper map inside of a waterproof map case. For geeks, you can get a pocket protector and alcohol pens to write on the case and the special eraser for the writing when you’re done drawing and then . . .

You can order topographic maps by states. I keep this in my Jeep to back up my road map. You can also go to your local camping store or local bookstore and you should be able to get the pertinent sets of maps. I also own maps of National Forests and National Parks I visit.

There are numerous navigation apps. Google Maps is familiar to almost everyone. There are several topo map Apps you can get. I’ve used a number over the years but the best one I’ve found is Gaia. The basic app is free and then there are two levels of membership.  The premium, which is discounted 20% via my affiliate link, is $32 for a year but for the number and types of maps you get, it is definitely worth it. One useful thing to using any map app is to learn how to use the app.

Gaia also sends interesting email updates on various outdoor activities that are very informative from outdoor experts.

Land Navigation is covered in Survival.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed about the Area Study? Here’s the easy way to do it. Start from your house. Then move outwards. Do the same with your work. Look at the route from home to work/school. And your Emergency Rally Point. And BOHS. A lot of the information will overlap.

Check one thing at a time. Write down your observations. You’ll be surprised at the amount of information you end up with and how much wiser and mentally prepared you will be than you were. Make sure you ‘disseminate the information’ to your A-Team. Actually, what’s best is if you break down the Area Study and have different members of the team do different parts. Then brief each other. This can be an enlightening and fun exercise.

Once you have the Area Study done, adjust your planning and preparedness to fit the order of likelihood of emergencies and disasters.

EMERGENCY ROUTE PLANNING

You need to plan a number of routes, some of which you already know, such as from work/school to your home or to the IRP near your home. The routes that need to be planned are to the ERP from various locations, the out of area emergency contact and the BOHS.

When planning a route there are several things to keep in mind:

Where is the start point?

Where is the end point?

What are you taking with you? GnG bag?

What modes of transportation are available? Car? Four by four vehicle? Bike? Feet? Public transportation if still running?

What effect will weather have on the route? There are roads that are closed seasonally or that can easily be affected by the natural disaster you are fleeing. Route planning is especially critical for certain disasters such as wildfires.

Consider routes besides roads. Everyone thinks of roads. I did an Area Study consult with clients in New York City and helped them find ways out of the city they hadn’t considered such as rail-lines, aqueducts, tunnels, and a myriad of other possibilities.

In essence, route planning is a moveable area study. What are the threats along the route? Envision masses of people trying to evacuate—will your route be clogged? Perhaps consider a different way.

What is along the route that can help you? More on this in scavenge.

A critical consideration is choke points. Rivers and mountain ranges are two key ones. When I look at certain areas and even larger land masses, the choke points jump out. For the United States, large rivers present chokepoints, such as the Hudson, the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Missouri and others. They are also routes, but confined ones. There are cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles and Seattle that are surrounded by mountains. How many roads go from the city through those mountains? The Appalachian and Rocky Mountains are obstacles but are also full of hide sites. While there are only two roads through the Smoky Mountain National Park that people are familiar with and on road maps, there are numerous National Forest Roads through the Cherokee and Nanthala National Forests surrounding it that aren’t marked on most maps. The Gaia app has the entire map set of such roads as overlays as well as foot trails.

Your emergency routes should be written down. Everyone should have a copy in their GnG bag. Everyone should travel it at least once for familiarization. As part of that, they also get to see the BOHS.

This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide

Purpose. Delineate the area being studied—this applies to your home, your work, and any other locations you will likely be. We’ll start with you, your home and then expand outward.

What special skills and background do you have? The people on your team?

These include medical, construction, problem solving, military, the list is basically about coping with a mild emergency that isn’t life-threatening. The key is to know what you can and can’t do, and what those around you can and can’t do. Think back to the last emergency experienced—what was the reaction? The answer to this will give a heads up to how one will react in the next emergency. There is no right or wrong answer, but awareness helps.

These skills include medical, military, gardening, hunting, survival training and experience, pilot, boat operation, camping, weapons, cooking, land navigation, swimming, communication (personal and technical), construction, problem solving, fire starting, knot tying, the list goes on and on. Think back to the last crisis encountered. What was the instinctual reaction? Some people can react well while others panic. This is a reality that has to be factored into any scenario.

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

Name:

Ability to react in an emergency:

Special Skills Background #1:

Special Skills Background #2:

Special Skills Background #3:

Special Skills Background #4:

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.

YOUR HOME

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 mats 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 the bottom when in use. Make sure leaning ladders are placed against a solid point.

Task Five: 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

To prevent poisoning

Label all unmarked liquid containers. If you wonder what’s in that old plastic jug or bottle, assume it’s poison. NEVER use food or drink containers to store hazardous material.

Store cleaning products safely and out of reach of children.

Store medicines securely and out of reach of children.

Put child proof cabinet locks on all doors within reach of children.

Have the poison control phone number posted in your kitchen and on speed dial on your cell phone. 800-222-1222.

Never mix medicines together without consulting a doctor or pharmacist. Or call the poison help hotline which is monitored 24 hours a day and they can give you advice: 800-222-1222.

Monitor heaters and fireplaces for CO2 emissions. Have fireplaces cleaned yearly.

Never mix household cleaning products together. Some don’t like each other and produce toxic gasses, particularly bleach and ammonia.

Never mix:

Bleach and vinegar = Toxic chlorine gas

Bleach and ammonia = Toxic Chloramine Vapors

Bleach and rubbing alcohol = Chloroform

Hydrogen Peroxide and Vinegar = Parecetic acid.

Task Six: Mild: Poison Prevention Checklist

Post Poison Control # Prominently in kitchen:  800-222-1222

Label all unmarked liquid containers

Insure all cleaning products are stores out of reach of children

Insure all medications are stores out of reach of children and have childproof caps

Never mix medications without approval

Monitor all heaters and fireplaces for CO2

Have fireplaces and chimneys cleaned annually

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 Seven: 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

Task Eight: Mild: Drowning Prevention Checklist

Always monitor young children when bathing.

Insure your dishwasher and washing machine are off when done.

Never leave water running when you’re not watching it. This is not only for injuries but for home damage (speaking from experience).

Don’t use electronics around water, especially the bath.

Keep toilet lids closed.

Pools should be completely enclosed with at least a four-foot high fence and childproof gate.

Never allow children in a pool unsupervised.

Task Nine: Mild: Fire Prevention Checklist

Smoke detectors in every bedroom

Smoke detector on every floor

Test smoke detectors every month

Replace smoke detector batteries every six months

Never leave the kitchen while the stove is on

Never leave candles burning overnight or when not home

Task Ten: Mild: Firearm Prevention Checklist

All firearms must be secured in a locked area

Locked trigger guards on all firearms

Never leave a loaded firearm unattended

Know and follow all firearms safety rules

YOUR IMMEDIATE AREA OF OPERATIONS

That’s a fancy way of saying the area around your home, your work, your school, etc. At HomeFacts you will get a listing of the following which will help: crime rate, environmental hazards, crime stats, drug labs, air quality, radon, UV index, brown fields, registered polluters, tanks and spills, average monthly temperatures, probability of earthquakes, hail, hurricanes and tornadoes; closest airports, FCC towers, fire stations, hospitals and police stations.

Task Eleven: Homefacts

Go to Homefacts http://www.homefacts.com/ and enter your zip code.

Task Twelve: Environment

Of the four type of special environments (cold weather, desert, tropical or water) which ones do you need to be concerned with in order of priority:

Here is a partial list of natural disasters:

Tornado, Hurricane, Heat Wave, Drought, Wildfire, Blizzard, Earthquake, Tsunami, Volcano, Mud/Landslide, Flooding, Tidal Surge.

Below is a partial list of man-made disasters. While some of them are truly accidents and can’t be anticipated, others might have a higher likelihood depending on where you live such as a dam failure or industrial accident. Some also depend on your lifestyle, such as where you work or whether you own firearms.

Car accident, boat/ferry accident, train/subway accident, tall building evacuation, fire, power outage, burglary, robbery, carjacking, civil unrests/riots, terrorist attack, active shooter, firearms accidents, nuclear power plant accident, nuclear weapons, dam failure, biological weapons and infectious diseases, chemical weapons/accident, industrial accident.

Are your power lines buried? What industries are in your area? What are you downwind, downstream of? What toxic materials and/or gases would be emitted if there was an accident? Where is the closest nuclear power plant or storage area? Are there labs in your area that work with dangerous biological agents? What about the local university? Are you in the flood zone of a dam breaking? What rails lines are near you? What is being transported on those lines? Is toxic material being carried? If a train derails and that material is released, what should you do? Under survival, the proper response for a chemical agent is covered—your first instinct to run is usually the wrong one! The same is true for evaluating potential problems on waterways and roads.

Where is your hundred year flood line? You can use the FEMA flood map search to determine this by entering your address: https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search

Also, note that recent surveys indicate flood data is changing rapidly. Here is the link to an article indicating where things are changing updated in 2020:

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-flood-risk-zone-us-map

This is becoming more and more important!

Task Thirteen: Natural and Man-made disasters in order of likelihood in your AO

Natural Disasters in your area in order of likelihood:

1:

2:

3: 

Man-made disasters in order of likelihood in your AO:

1:

2:

3:

4:

5:

By doing this task, we can now focus on what is important for your specific situation in this manual.

This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide

If a disaster struck, who would you want at your side, helping you? A doctor? Lawyer? Policeman? Teacher? While they all have special skills, I submit that the overwhelming choice would be a Special Forces Green Beret. Someone trained in survival, medicine, weapons, tactics, communication, engineering, counter-terrorism, tactical and strategic intelligence and with the capability to be a force multiplier. This last one is key. Another way this book is unique is because your goal should be to plan for dealing with emergencies with a team/family, not a lonely individual holed up in a bunker deep in the hills.

I was part of the committee at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School that revamped the Qualification Course and made SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training an integral part of it for every Special Forces soldier, rather than a separate school.

This book is a step-by-step guide giving you the tactics and techniques Green Berets use to plan for and train to succeed under the toughest of circumstances; thus they will work in every situation you could find yourself. Don’t feel that you have to be a Green Beret to use this book. I’m like most people. I’m not a prepper or a hard-core survivalist. I’ve been trained and have a lot of experience, but my day to day life is pretty normal. I’ve prepared just like you need to prepare, but prefer room service over sleeping on the side of a mountain. I’m passing on the key knowledge and experience I have acquired through the mindset of someone living in a non-emergency day-to-day lifestyle.

As I began to research the amount of information out there about survival, I was quickly overwhelmed despite having extensive experience in this area. Between the books, the videos, the internet and the ‘reality’ shows, the casual person will get swept under. I’m trying to keep this is as simple as possible and looking at it from the point of view of your ‘average’ person living in an apartment or house who will have to face situations they are probably not prepared for right now. I prefer a lighter rather than making a bow, then a fireboard, then finding a stick, and using all those to start a fire. Let’s keep it simple until it gets hard! Then we’ll also be prepared to deal with that.

We’ve seen glimpses of what’s coming. The Indian Ocean tsunami; Katrina; 9-11; Haiti; the Japanese quake and subsequent tsunami, Hurricane Sandy, the Louisiana floods, Puerto Rico hurricane recovery, California wildfires and so on. But there are many, lesser, emergencies that are more likely.

A key tenet of success for the Green Beret is to act rather than react. When the disaster strikes, it’s too late. The clock is ticking. So let’s get prepared! First, let’s make sure we have key information about our team members.

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 Location/Phone #:

Immediate Rally Point location:

Emergency Rally Point location:

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.

We’re on a roll. You now have more information and are more prepared than when you started this book. Many of us don’t have phone numbers memorized. We rely on the address book of our cell phone, but in an emergency, that might not work, you might not have your cell phone and have to use someone else’s, or, as you shall see, there are many other reasons to actually have these numbers and locations written down.

Make sure everyone has an ICE (in case of emergency) phone number on their cell phone.

Android users running 7.0 or higher can program emergency information and contact details through the emergency call screen that is available even when the device is locked.

On the iPhone go to your Health App.

1.  Launch the Health app on your iPhone.

2.  Tap the Medical ID tab.

3.  Tap Edit in the upper right corner.

4.  Tap Edit Medical ID.

5.  Under Emergency Contacts tap Add emergency contact.

6.  Select a contact from your list.

7.  Select a relationship.

You can add as much information as you like on this app in the appropriate places. Think about it. If you were found unconscious and your phone is locked, could anyone contact someone who would need to know? Would medical personnel know your blood type and allergies?

To access it, when the passcode screen comes up, you will see emergency in the bottom left of that screen. Tap that and you will get a phone dial screen; on the bottom left it will say, in red, Medical ID. Tap that and you will get all the pertinent information.

For future tasks, I include specific information about gear and equipment. The items linked are for reference. 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 to make it easier to show gear as there’s an overwhelming amount of things out there.

All money generated from affiliate links is donated to charity, the primary one being the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

www.specialops.org

If you find a broken or outdated link, please let me know at bob@bobmayer.com

One rule of thumb: the cheaper the gear costs, the cheaper the gear. Also, sometimes things are no longer available, so I add the item description.

Please 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. They will be more in tune with your specific area and needs.

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

Example:

M2 Basics First Aid Kit

More to come.

This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide