07 March 2007
Musings On Preparedness
Preparedness follows the same priority list as anything else - kit is NOT the most important issue. As those who have read or stdied with Dennis Martin will know, he promotes a very useful for model for prioritising factors for self protection.
This applies equally to more general preparedness. It is the mindset which will make the most impact, followed by tactics, techniques and kit. Looking back at the Kim family tragedy we can see a failure on multiple levels. Whilst Mr Kim had the mindset to struggle and fight to save his family, he did not have the prepared/preventative mindset which essentially led to the situation in which his family found themselves.
Having the mindset to prepare, to avoid the risks, to be ready to deal with the potential hardships of an emergency scenario. This is what will make the most difference. Then we have the tactics - avoiding the roads that are prone to flooding in the dead of night, telling people where you are going, taking pre-emptive action rather than waiting until it is too late.
Then we come to the techniques. There are a great number of resources out there explaining the 'how to'. I'm not planning to go over those again but, as well as the various fora I would recommend the following:
You'll notice a bias towards bushcraft skills here. Whilst what we are preparing for may be in an urban, or a rural environment, the skills are basically the same. We need the same basics of shelter, water, food and warmth regardless of if we are trying to deal with being stranded in the snow because the trains and buses can't run in central London, trying to escape a flooded city or dealing with your car breaking down when the recovery services are too stretched to respond quickly.
As in self protection we need to make sensible decisions of the risks we face and have a layered approach to our preparation.
The first factor we consider is, as always, context. In what context are you operating? Are you going to be travelling around a city by public transport? Are you driving across the country? Are you alone? With children?.
Preparedness follows the same priority list as anything else - kit is NOT the most important issue. As those who have read or stdied with Dennis Martin will know, he promotes a very useful for model for prioritising factors for self protection.
This applies equally to more general preparedness. It is the mindset which will make the most impact, followed by tactics, techniques and kit. Looking back at the Kim family tragedy we can see a failure on multiple levels. Whilst Mr Kim had the mindset to struggle and fight to save his family, he did not have the prepared/preventative mindset which essentially led to the situation in which his family found themselves.
Having the mindset to prepare, to avoid the risks, to be ready to deal with the potential hardships of an emergency scenario. This is what will make the most difference. Then we have the tactics - avoiding the roads that are prone to flooding in the dead of night, telling people where you are going, taking pre-emptive action rather than waiting until it is too late.
Then we come to the techniques. There are a great number of resources out there explaining the 'how to'. I'm not planning to go over those again but, as well as the various fora I would recommend the following:
You'll notice a bias towards bushcraft skills here. Whilst what we are preparing for may be in an urban, or a rural environment, the skills are basically the same. We need the same basics of shelter, water, food and warmth regardless of if we are trying to deal with being stranded in the snow because the trains and buses can't run in central London, trying to escape a flooded city or dealing with your car breaking down when the recovery services are too stretched to respond quickly.
As in self protection we need to make sensible decisions of the risks we face and have a layered approach to our preparation.
The first factor we consider is, as always, context. In what context are you operating? Are you going to be travelling around a city by public transport? Are you driving across the country? Are you alone? With children?.
The next factor is the time which you will have to survive without help. In a large scale civilian emergency I think the minimum is 3 days. It may be less, but looking at Katrina, large scale power outages and the like, 3 days seems to be a common timeframe. For a day trip into a city we are more likely looking at hours, or at most one night.
The final factors are seasonal or changeable issues - what is the weather like? Is there a particular threat or risk?
Labels: Preparedness
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