Basics of Survival
While the rest of the world is caught up in the whirlwind of the election, now is an ideal time to be thinking about preparedness. An old Chinese proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today.” With that in mind, I hope you have been working consistently on becoming more self-sufficient, but if that’s not the case, the best time to start building a plan is right now.
The Essentials
As human beings, there are a few things that we need if we are going to stay alive. During training for Search and Rescue, we had to memorize and account for just a handful of things when we went out into potentially life-threatening situations where we might need to be self-sufficient for hours or days:
1. Positive Mental Attitude (PMA)
This is the most important of all because, without a positive attitude and a will to live, you’ve got no drive to even obtain any of the other items. If you’ve given up, nothing else matters. Determine that no matter what, you will survive.
2. Air/Oxygen
You can survive three minutes deprived of oxygen. After that, your brain and other organs begin to shut down, you will lose consciousness, and without intervention, you will die.
3. Shelter and Clothing
Your body can make it about three hours exposed to the elements (specifically cold) before hypothermia sets in and your body begins to shut down. If you have the will to survive and are still breathing, the most important thing is to find a place to stay warm and dry.
4. Rest
With the first three covered, the next most important thing is to get some rest. Trying to form or execute a plan while exhausted will likely lead to a poorly executed plan, or worse, landing in a much worse situation. Attack the situation well-rested and with a sharp mind.
5. Water
You can survive about three days with no water. With a shelter established, you need to know that you can access, collect, purify, and (if applicable) warm water. Drinking dirty water without filtering it or drinking saltwater can kill you just as quickly as no water at all.
6. Food
Finally, when everything else is in place, you need to get some food. You can survive as many as three weeks with no food (some of us can probably live longer), but in a survival situation, you’ll likely be expending more energy and will need about 3,000 calories a day to keep your body running.
Conclusion
In the coming weeks, we will be digging into these things in a lot more detail. Essential Preparedness, LLC exists to equip you and your family to not only survive in times of uncertainty, but to thrive, and to help your neighbors, friends, and community.
If there is a specific topic or question that you would like us to address, please reach out! You can contact us via email, info@essprep.com. Welcome to the premiere preparedness community!