Saturday, February 28, 2015
Preparedness Was Key to West Virginia Derailment Response
Emergency response and training has changed dramatically in the decades since the deadly explosion in Waverly, Tenn., in 1978.
Planning and Drilling For a School LockdownIs Your School Prepared?
Posted on Prepare Now Store Facebook - 2/28/15
The constant stream of school shootings highlights the need for well thought out school lockdown procedures.
Prepare for a variety of school emergency situations. Lockdown training and drills focused only on active shooter situations are more likely to fail when faced with non-shooter scenarios. While school crisis planning should be kept simple and focused, over focus on active shooter situations is more likely to resulting in missing early warning signs of non-shooter events because these situations are perceived as minor. This can allow a relatively minor event to escalate into a major crisis because an early opportunity to lock down the school was missed. Schools should drill for lower level or soft lockdowns to build awareness since most lockdown situations do not involve weapons.
Keep the alert codes simple and constantly train teachers and staff on them. If your school has three alert codes (Red, Orange, Blue) there is no excuse for every teacher and staff member not to know what they represent. The danger of not knowing the codes was highlighted by a recent school district security assessment where over 20% of the administrators mistakenly ordered a lockdown instead of a sheltering procedure in response to a tornado warning alert code. This lack of training could have resulted in a massive loss of life. Keep the number of codes to a minimum and train on them. All school employees should participate in staff development and lockdown drills. Physically practicing lockdown procedures before a crisis is absolutely critical. A plan without drills is useless! ...........................
Read more on Prepare Now Store Facebook.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Police Taking Page from the Military by Saving Lives with Tourniquets
In response to the rise of large-scale attacks in public places, a goal is to place tourniquets in malls, ballparks and universities.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
If You Are Stuck In
Your Car In A Winter Storm Do You Know What To Do?
My wife and I lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota back in the 1990’s. When
it’s -25F, getting stuck in a car away from help in a snow storm is seriously business. Here are some basic survival tips.
- Immediately ensure that the car exhaust pipe is clear of snow so you don't get carbon monoxide poisoning. This is one of the most obvious things but people die from it every year.
- Unless you see a building nearby, the best thing to do is stay in your car. If you have to walk any significant distance in -25F snow storm and you don't have the proper survival gear you very likely won't make it.
- Conserve gas by turning the car engine off every once in a while, and then turn it back when it starts to get really cold.
- Continue to check the tailpipe each time you turn the heater on. I can't repeat this enough times because by the time you figure out it's carbon monoxide it's too late.
- Do some exercises inside the car they will help keep you warm.
- Stay hydrated. If you don't have water in the car, melt snow. The more hydrated you are, the warmer you will be. Don’t eat snow, melt it first.
- If you pull off to the side of the road in a snowstorm with really poor visibility, do you turn the flashers on? When drivers can’t see they have a tendency to aim for the lights, and people have been killed this way. I tend to say that if you are well off the road; leave them off in extremely poor visibility.
Everyone should have a survival kit in
their car because it can make the difference between life and death.
Shop PrepareNowStore.com for Survival Kits.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Preparing for the Next Pandemic: What Will It Be?
The danger of pandemics has become greater than ever.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Cold Weather Survival
PrepareNowStore.com 2/17/2015 (second of two articles)In my first article I talked about the four basic principles of keeping warm.
1. Keep Clothing Clean
2. Avoid overheating
3. Wear Clothing Loose And In Layers
4 Keep Clothing Dry
I also talked about the importance of good hygiene and the dangers of frostbite. To recap, mild frostbite involves only skin that takes on a dull whitish color. Deep frostbite extends deep below the skin. Feet, hands, and exposed facial areas are usually the first areas affected by frostbite. A person with frostbite needs professional medical attention ASAP.
If you can’t get to a doctor immediately:
- Get the person to a warm place and remove any wet clothing.
- Unless absolutely necessary, the person should not walk on frostbitten toes or feet.
- Do not rewarm the skin until you can keep it warm. Warming and then re-exposing the frostbitten area to cold air can cause worse damage.
- Gently warm the area in warm water (not hot) or with wet heat until the skin appears red and warm.
- If no water is nearby, breathe on the area through cupped hands and hold it next to your body.
- Do not use direct heat from heating pads, radiator, or fires.
- Do not rub or massage the skin or break blisters.
Bandage the Area
- Loosely apply dry, sterile dressings.
- Put gauze or clean cotton balls between fingers or toes to keep them separated.
Now let’s move on to Hypothermia.
Hypothermia
The initial symptom of hypothermia is shivering. Then you shiver to the point that you can't control it which is your body trying to produce heat to warm itself. Sluggish thinking comes next. After that some hypothermia victims get a feeling of warmth. You feel warm but at this point you must warm yourself or you will die. Warming brings the pain back which you have to endure to survive. Otherwise, death comes at around 77 degree core body temperature. Hypothermia victims must be warmed slowly because there is a real risk of cardiac arrest and rewarming shock. Never force an unconscious or semi-conscious person to drink.
Trench Foot
Trench foot occurs after long periods of exposure to damp conditions at temperatures just above freezing. There is a sensation of pins and needles, tingling, numbness, and then pain. The skin will appear wet, white and shriveled. If the feed are not warmed and dried, the feet will swell and the skin will turn red and then bluish or black. Walking will be difficult and the feet will feel heavy and numb. In extreme cases, the flesh dies and it may become necessary to have the foot or leg amputated. This is why we make so much out of keeping your feet dry. If you can only take one piece of clothing as you bug out, grab a pair of dry shocks.
Dehydration
Your need for water is as great in a cold weather as in hot weather. One trusted method to tell if you are dehydrated is to check the color of your urine. Dark urine means dehydration.
Snow Blindness
Snow blindness is caused by the sun's ultraviolet rays reflecting off of snow. The symptoms are a sensation of grit in the eyes, pain in and over the eyes that increases with eyeball movement, red eyes, and a headache that intensifies with continued exposure to light. Continued exposure to these bright snowy conditions will result in permanent eye damage. The easiest way to prevent snow blindness is to wear good sunglasses. To treat snow blindness, bandage the eyes until the symptoms disappear. Then make a set of eye patches with a hole just big enough to see through. This is how old Arctic explorers did it.
SHELTERS
Building a shelter is a critical skill to surviving in cold weather.
In a survival situation smaller is better when it comes to building a temporary shelter. The shelter should be no larger than needed so that it is easier to heat. Be sure your shelter has some ventilation especially if you intend to build a fire in it. Not sleeping directly on the ground or putting your sleeping bag in direct contact with the ground is one of the most important rules of winter survival. Trying to sleep directly on the ground without an insulating layer of leaves or some other material is guaranteed to put your survival at risk.
When sleeping in a shelter with a heater, always be aware of carbon monoxide. It is colorless and odorless. Even in a ventilated shelter, incomplete combustion can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Often, there are no symptoms until it’s too late.
Snow Cave Shelter
Snow caves make effective shelters because snow is a good insulator and wind screener. Keep the roof arched for strength and to allow melted snow to drain down the sides. Build the sleeping platform higher than the doorway and keep away from the cave's walls.
FIRE
Fire has been a key to winter survival since the beginning of time. When choosing wood, remember that some wood burns easier than others. For example, wood that contains resin and tar such as Pine creates more smoke than wood from deciduous trees but is easier to light. So pine would be the choice to get a fire started but then switch to hardwoods for less smoke and longer burns. For heating purposes, a single candle or a small fire the size of your hand can keep you warm in an enclosed shelter.
For more information visit PrepareNowStore.com.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Cold Weather Survival
PrepareNowStore.com
2/16/2015 (first of two articles)
Since we are in the middle of a winter storm, this may be a good time to think about winter survival.
Cold, wet weather is especially
dangerous since water is a very efficient heat conductor. You must protect
yourself from freezing rain, wet snow, and wet ground.
Wind Chill - Take wind chill seriously because
cold combined with high winds removes heat much faster than cold alone.
Cold Weather
Survival Basics
How
many times have you been told to keep your head covered? You can lose 40% to
45% of body heat from an unprotected head and even more from an unprotected
neck, wrist, and ankles.
Four basic principles to keep warm
1. Keep Clothing Clean – dirty clothes have reduced insulating value.
2. Avoid Overheating - overheating leads to sweat. Once clothing gets wet, it becomes a conductor of heat effectively sucking the heat out of you. Overheating leads to a large percentage of hypothermia deaths in survival situations.
1. Keep Clothing Clean – dirty clothes have reduced insulating value.
2. Avoid Overheating - overheating leads to sweat. Once clothing gets wet, it becomes a conductor of heat effectively sucking the heat out of you. Overheating leads to a large percentage of hypothermia deaths in survival situations.
3. Wear Your Clothing Loose And In Layers
- tight clothing restricts blood circulation and you need good circulation to
keep your extremities warm. Also, tight clothing reduces the amount
of trapped air in your cloths, and it is this air that acts as insulation.
4 Keep Clothing Dry – We all know not to get clothing wet but it will happen. When it happens here are some things you can do. Hanging wet clothing in direct sunlight is one method of drying them. If this is not possible then try using your body heat to facilitate evaporation. But first wring out as much excess water as possible.
Using fire has been used to dry cloths since the beginning of time. Just be careful, burning your cloths will make a bad situation even worse.
4 Keep Clothing Dry – We all know not to get clothing wet but it will happen. When it happens here are some things you can do. Hanging wet clothing in direct sunlight is one method of drying them. If this is not possible then try using your body heat to facilitate evaporation. But first wring out as much excess water as possible.
Using fire has been used to dry cloths since the beginning of time. Just be careful, burning your cloths will make a bad situation even worse.
A heavy sleeping bag can be a life saver in a cold weather survival situation. Like your clothing you must keep your sleeping bag clean and dry. Never place a sleeping bag directly on wet ground. It’s guaranteed to fail.
For more visit the Articles section at PrepareNowStore.com.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Building Your 1-Year Food Storage
We have the first in our series of Food Storage Basics articles on our Facebook page. The article talks about finding a place to store your food supply, figuring out how much you need, building up your food storage supply slowing, and using your food storage in everyday cooking.
The important point in the article is that the first step in food storage is always the hardest. Just start, and you will be surprised how fast you inventory will grow.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Here are our thoughts on choosing the right duffel bag:
Size
The first thing to consider
in a deployment bag is size. For a long term deployment, you should look for a
bag in the 7,000 cu in range. If you want to go a little larger there is the
5.11 CAM 2.0 rolling duffel bag which is 9,300 cu in. You want a bag that will
hold everything you need without it being over packed. You don’t want to be
unpacking everything just to find something, and then there’s the risk of zippers
busting.
Construction
A good bag should
have double stitched seams and heavy construction; 5.11 uses 1,600 denier nylon.
You want the seams to be taped and the fabric to be waterproof. A good
deployment bag needs to be easy to carry. If you find yourself stuck somewhere
for four days while you try to get a flight, you’ll soon find out why. Lots of
bags have hideaway shoulder straps you can secure under Velcro flaps, and
that’s a great feature. In fact, the less clutter on the outside of the bag the
better; it’s less likely to get caught on pallets or aircraft fittings, and
that helps prevent it from getting ripped.
Other Features
External
pockets let you store movement documents and small items you want to get at in
a hurry without having to rummage through the whole bag. A clear plastic sleeve
to hold a name card is also a good idea. Loops so you can lock it helps
prevent thefts, and reinforced corners cut down on wear and tear.
Whatever type of
duffel bag you go for, don’t try to go cheap. Choose a good bag and pay for
quality.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Without a good survival knife, your
ability to survive in the wilderness is put at risk. When choosing a survival
knife here are some things to consider:
Handle - Handles on survival knives vary widely.
Some are hard rubber, others polymer. I would avoid knives with built-in
storage in hollow handles. Another thing to avoid is a compass in the
handle because it could mess up your grip. Do you really need a cheap compass
in the handle of such an important tool when it could make the knife hard to
work with?
Tang - The
tang of a knife is the part of the blade that extends into the handle. The Tang
and the blade are one solid piece of steel. A full tang or tang that goes all
the way to the base of the handle is best for a survival knife because this
gives the entire knife strength.
Blade - Survival knives generally come in either
stainless or carbon steel. Which is better is a debate we can’t settle here:
- Stainless steel is virtually indestructible and lasts a long time without rusting.
- Carbon steel knives are usually known to hold a good edge longer than stainless steel, but will rust faster.
Blade Design - A straight blade knife will work better
for chopping wood and is much easier to sharpen. A good smooth stone can even
be used to sharpen a straight blade, whereas a serrated blade usually takes a sharpener. But as I’ve said in other posts, I like serrated edges.
Blade Length - Most survival knives are from 6 to 12
inches long. Any less and it might not be big enough to do survival tasks like
chopping wood. We recommend 9 to 10 inches. You don’t want a survival knife
that’s too big to handle and carry effectively.
Blade Thickness - A good general rule is about 3/16 - 4/16
of an inch. A knife of that thickness will be extremely solid and able to withstand
the requirements of a survival knife.
Sheath - There are three things you want in a sheath:
- You want a hole or attachment piece at the tip end of the sheath for strapping the knife to your leg when on the belt, or onto a backpack.
- You want a belt and lanyard attachment.
- You want the sheath to close around the knife.
Shop our Knives section for a selection of survival and tactical knives.
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