Turn off your tv and other electronic devices then go for a walk, for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week, in and around your neighborhood.
No, you don't have to wave to your neighbors, yet, but if they wave, wave back.
Blog Post:
In emergency preparedness, there is a rule. The rule is called the "3 to 5 Rule of Dying." It goes something like this:
You will Die
within
3 to 5 seconds without Thinking
3 to 5 minutes without Breathing
3 to 5 hours without Shelter
3 to 5 days without Water
3 to 5 weeks without Food
Note:
"Thinking" is the first item on the list. It is the most important.
Don't believe me; browse through the Darwin Awards.
Some people have already survived/died in certain situations. Take Steve Irwin, an injury that was survivable killed him because he made the wrong choice. Others, such as Lise Bohannon, made decisions that saved their lives, and we can learn from all of these choices.
Now, there are many, many people expressing their opinions on how to prepare to survive. James M. Dakins, James W. Rawles, Ragnar Benson, Kurt Saxon, and Andrew Zarowny are just a few. They all have their opinions.
Because they have been getting ready longer then you, doesn't mean they are right. This includes me. You have to decide what is going to work for you.
With that said let us get started.
The first thing you want to do is to make a threat analysis. The "Threat Analysis FAQ" helps you focus on the situations that you are going to prepare for; it will also lead you through the process of discovering and documenting the threats to your continued survival.
Basically, you write down all the bad stuff that could happen to you.
To do this, you take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Next, write down every bad thing that could happen to you and your family on the left side. Some things you might write, in no particular order, are a house fire, laid-off, car accident, flood, nuclear war, hurricane, tornado, home invasion, windstorm, violent revolution, earthquake, sewer back-up, fired, sectarian violence... .
Don't get discouraged. Keep listing.
Once you're finished, on the right side of the line, you want to prioritize them, from greatest threat to the least likely to happen to you and your family. That's it for this week.
Before you go, let me tell you a story.
There was a young man and he wanted to go and seek his fortune. He asked his father what he should do.
The father said, "Son, every morning walk in the direction of the rising sun. At noon, eat your lunch and rest for an hour. Then get up and walk in the direction of the setting sun."
The next morning, his mother and father hugged him and bid him farewell. He did as his father had advised, walking all morning and stopping for lunch, even resting under a shady tree. After his rest, the son got up and followed the setting sun, arriving home just in time for dinner.
A little surprised, he was welcomed home by his family.
At the dinner table, he asked his father why he had given him such bad advice.
His dad replied, "Not everyone will give you good advice."
So work on your Threat Analysis, and I'll ...
See you next week!
Links:
Darwin Awards
http://www.darwinawards.com/
Wikipedia - Steve Irwin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin
*scroll down the page to "Death"
Nova Online - Escape! Survivor Stories
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/escape/survivors.html
Threat Analysis FAQ
http://www.geocities.com/tominelpaso/assess_faq.txt
FEMA - Learn About the Types of Disasters
http://www.fema.gov/hazard/types.shtm
