How to Stay Safe from Terrorism

Staying Safe from Terrorism
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This post contains some tips for staying safe from terrorism.

But before you scroll down to see the tips, realize that the goal of terrorism is to use fear to enhance a political motive.

If you allow your fear to change how you vote or what you allow your government to do the terrorists win and will continue to use their tactics.

Only by getting angry and fighting back against terrorist acts and goals will you ensure that terrorist tactics are counterproductive and won’t be used.

This is not just fighting back physically, but emotionally and politically

How to Stay Safe from Terrorism

  • Be alert to both your immediate surroundings and the overall area. Terrorists count on surprise.
  • Think ahead.  A baseball infielder gets off a quicker throw if he’s been thinking what he’ll do if and when he gets the ball, and you’ll react more quickly to an event if you’re expecting one.
  • This same attitude also helps you check the type and location of exits, wherever you are, without really thinking about it.
  • Watch for conspicuous or unusual behavior in others, especially when traveling.
  • Never accept any package from a stranger or leave your luggage unattended.
  • Your other preparedness planning can carry over here.  Getting out of a burning building safely, for instance, is the same process whether the fire started from a cook’s stove or a terrorist’s bomb.
  • Take bomb threats seriously even though a true terrorist is not likely to warn. If you receive a bomb threat by telephone, get as much information from the caller as you can.  Listen for something helpful in background noises.  Record the call if possible.
  • If you’re in a building when a bomb goes off, get out as quickly and calmly as you can. Watch for falling debris, and stay as low as possible to avoid smoke and potentially poisonous gases.
  • If a bomb blast traps you in a building, stop moving.  Staying in your area prevents kicking up dust and also maximizes the chance that searchers will find you.  Further boost your chances of being found by tapping on a pipe.  Avoid shouting; this increases your respiration, and there may be poisonous gas in the air.
  • Follow any official directions you receive.  The top goal of first responders is to save lives; all instructions they issue will be geared toward that goal.
Lightning

Lightning

Lightning
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Take the threat of lightning seriously; if you can hear thunder, the storm is close enough to threaten you with lightning.

If you feel your skin tingle or your hair stand on end, you are like a jet fighter that’s being painted by radar.
Make yourself as small a target as possible without lying flat: drop to your knees, bend forward and out your hands on your knees.

  • Professionally-installed lightning rods make your home much safer in a storm.
  • If you are indoors when thunder or the media alert sounds, stay indoors.
  • Stay away from metal objects such as plumbing fixtures and appliances; do not use electrical equipment like telephones.
  • Water is a great conductor, so do not use faucets or showers.
  • Check the weather forecast before leaving for outside activities.
  • If you are trapped outside in a thunderstorm, go to a low area and crouch (but do not lie flat).  Avoid high areas like hilltops; if in a crowd, spread out.  If the only building you can find is metal, don’t go inside.
  • If you’re in a boat, get ashore and out of the craft immediately; if you’re in a car, stay in it.
  • Safety under a tree is a myth; if you’re in woods or forest, find a spot under low, thick trees.

8 Tips on How to Survive a House Fire

Structure Fire
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House fires are devastating, they kill and destroy all that you hold dear.

Today’s post shows some simple tips to learn and do to help prevent and react to fires.

Things to Know:

  • Where to find, and how to activate, the fire alarm
  • Learn at least two routes out of every room
  • Where to find
  • How to use a fire extinguisher
  • Where you will meet and count heads after you get out
  • Where the nearest phone (other than your own) is

Things to Do:

  • Prevent:  do not overload electrical outlets; test the fire extinguisher; test smoke detectors monthly and change the batteries yearly (memory jogger:  change when setting clocks to Standard time); make sure windows will open (you’d be surprised how many are painted, swollen or even nailed shut); check and repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections; keep chimneys clean.
  • React:  call the emergency fire department number (usually 911), warn others and get out.
  • If the fire is small enough, try to put it out.  Use a fire extinguisher if you have one and have practiced its proper use.  Otherwise, use water unless it’s an oil or grease fire; in that event, try to smother it with baking soda or the lid of a pan.
  • Feel any interior door with your hand before opening it.  If it is hot to the touch, use another route – such as the lowest window in the room.  If there is no other route available, be as low as and as far from the door as you can when you open it.
  • Stay as low as possible and be ready to crawl if necessary.  Since both smoke and heat rise, your best chance to live is by staying under both.
  • If your clothes catch fire, remember what you learned in grade school fire drills:  stop, drop and roll.
  • Never use an elevator in a burning structure, even if you think the fire is well away from the elevator.  First, you can’t be sure.  Second, while stairs take more time and effort, they can’t become stuck between floors because the fire knocked out power.
  • Once outside, go to your pre-arranged meeting place and count heads.

Never go back inside a burning structure. You’ve already beaten the odds, don’t tempt fate!

PRN Episode #40 Introduction to Prepper Kits

The Emergency Kit

Incremental Disaster Kit
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Like having a disaster plan, having an emergency kit is as crucial as it is a function of common sense. How long does it take to throw together a couple of dozen items – versus grabbing a bag from a planned spot?

  • Basic staple #1, food:  at least a three-day supply of water (i.e., a gallon per person per day) and of non-perishable food that does not require cooking.
  • Basic staple #2, shelter:  you may either lose your home or access to it for some time.  Your home won’t fit in your emergency kit, of course, but you can include a list of places you can go instead – homes of family/friends or pre-identified community shelters; using the former eases the problems of the latter.
  • Basic staple #3, clothing/hygiene:  at least one change of clothes per person, as well as shoes, bedding and toiletry supplies. As for what you’re wearing, remember that many disasters happen at night – you may be wearing your pajamas.
  • Address any special needs in your emergency kit.  Examples: spare eyeglasses, medicine (or, to prevent loss through spoilage, a list of prescriptions you can fill on the run) and baby and pet supplies (remember that many shelters will not accept pets).
  • Power and information are often in short supply in disaster, so take them with you:  batteries, flashlight, battery-operated radio.
  • Some small tools – a rope, a wrench, pliers, a hammer and nails – may prove useful.
  • Even in disaster, it’s hard to live without cash.  In fact, without access to your own kitchen, it might be better to say “especially” in disaster.  Keep some cash or a credit card in your kit.
  • Once sheltered, you may be surprised at how quickly you become bored.  Some reading material in your emergency kit is more important than it seems.

Keep a smaller version in your vehicle.  Why smaller?  Not only is a car is smaller than a house, if you are in your vehicle you are usually mobile; if so, logic dictates you will go somewhere safe – eliminating the need to live out of the kit.

Earthquake

Earthquake
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As an emergency manger for a New Madrid Seismic Zone State, as well as someone that grew up near the fault line, I take the threat of earthquake pretty seriously.

What bothers me most about earthquakes is the lack of warning coupled with the possible destruction.  Short of moving, there really isn’t anything you can do to reduce your risk of earthquakes, but you can follow the tips below to mitigate the damage from an earthquake:

Fasten shelves securely to walls and brace overhead fixtures.

  • Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves.
  • Store any breakable items in latched cabinets.
  • Hang pictures and mirrors away from beds, couches, and anywhere people sit.
  • Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections. These are potential fire risks.
  • Strap your water heater to the wall studs and/or bolt it to the floor.
  • Repair any deep cracks in ceilings or foundations.
  • Store any hazardous and/or flammable chemicals on the bottom shelf of lockable cabinets.
  • Know safe places – inside: under sturdy furniture, against an inside wall, away from glass; outside:  away from buildings, trees, telephone and electrical lines, overpasses, or elevated expressways.
  • Ask an out-of-state relative or friend to serve as the “family contact.” After a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance – and there’s less chance this contact has been affected by the same disaster.