The Disaster Survival Guide: How to Prepare For and Survive Floods, Fires, Earthquakes and More
432
The Disaster Survival Guide: How to Prepare For and Survive Floods, Fires, Earthquakes and More
432Paperback
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Overview
Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Floods. Pandemics. Wildfires. Earthquakes. Droughts. Landslides. Trillions of dollars in damages. Billions of people affected. Worldwide shutdowns. Terrorist attacks. Gas explosions. Bridge collapses. Car, train, and plane crashes. These sudden and unexpected events make it feel as if chaos rules the world, but expecting the unexpected can mitigate the damage and loss to you and your loved ones. It pays to be prepared—and to know how to react and respond when disaster does strike.
When catastrophe strikes, no matter how big or small, being ready and knowing what to do can be the difference between the loss of life and survival. The Disaster Survival Guide: How to Prepare For and Surviving Floods, Fires, Earthquakes and More shows how to prepare and respond to any crisis, man-made or natural, wherever it might occur and however small or large it might be. Using what has been learned from previous disasters, this indispensable book illustrates how others survived past crises. Critical decisions faced during an emergency are considered: whether to stay or to go, where to go, how to stay informed, and more.
Covering the basics needs from food, water and first aid to shelter, security, and self-defense, this informative guide walks readers through the steps it takes to create their own personal emergency action plan. It provides a catalog of the skills, tools, and items needed to endure and overcome a variety of situations and circumstances. It pinpoints hazards unique to different terrains, locations, situations, and settings, too, and it helps identify and understand possible threats.
Just as important as learning how to survive the worst is learning how to survive everyday emergencies ranging from bee stings, snakebites, and allergic reactions to house fires, gas explosions, and more. It’s all important, and it’s all in The Disaster Survival Guide. Truly essential, this fact-filled book takes a clear-eyed look at what to do should the worst happen.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781578596737 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Visible Ink Press |
| Publication date: | 08/01/2018 |
| Pages: | 432 |
| Sales rank: | 1,102,817 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.10(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
OUT IN THE STORM
If you are out in the middle of the woods, or hiking up a mountain top, and a storm approaches, obviously the ideal situation would be to get back to camp. Even if you are on a lake fishing, boating, or out playing golf on a Sunday afternoon, a storm can mean flash flooding and lightning.
While you want to avoid being near waterways or areas where flash flooding can send water downhill towards you, you also want to descend from exposed, high places to avoid getting struck by lightning. This applies to locating your camp, too. Don’t pitch tents right next to the tallest trees around, or isolated trees in a clearing. They act as lightning rods!
If you are on a mountain bike, horse or in a golf cart, get off immediately and drop anything metal you may be carrying such as an umbrella, ski pole or golf club. If you are out in the open, find a low spot and crouch with your head low or covered. Don’t sit or lay down because the more of your body that is in contact with the ground, the more chance you have of being injured if a lightning bolt hits nearby. If you are with a group of people, spread out 15 feet apart to avoid all of you getting struck. If you are in the woods, stay put until the storm is over.
If someone is hit by lightning, tend to them immediately for ABCs. Unlike in the movies, a person hit by lightning will not carry and transfer a charge to you. Help them!
Once the storm appears to have passed, wait a bit before going out into any clearings to avoid lightning that may still be lingering. Watch that the area you are in is not in the path of a potential flash flood!
ANIMAL AND PLANT HAZARDS
A walk in nature can turn into a nightmare if you are not prepared for a potential problem. Let’s start with bears. Do you know what to do if you encounter a bear, or even a mountain lion or other large predatory animal, out in the wild? Many national parks and camping areas do not allow you to carry bear spray, which is a type of pepper spray. You have to remember that when you enter the woods and mountains, you are on their territory and need to act with respect.
If you spot a bear or other large animal at a distance, avoid it. The same applies for if you come upon babies or cubs. Stay away. The parent animals can be nearby and look at human interaction with their babies as an act of aggression. Leave the area and try to report the location to the Park Ranger. The closer you get, the more you are actually allowing bears and wild animals to get less fearful of people. In designated sites, park rangers will be on the lookout and have their own methods for dealing with animal intruders.
At a campsite or on the hiking trail, the key is to present yourself as being “big” and making a lot of noise. If a bear is nearby or coming toward you, do not run from it. Stand tall, arms linked with others, and scream, yell, bang on things. Never surround the bear, as this will make it feel threatened and launch an attack. Scare it away. Clap, stomp, wave your arms high to intimidate the bear with your size, and make all the ruckus you can until the bear backs off. If any of you are holding food, drop it or toss it out of the way of the campsite. Do not stop to take cell phone pictures, because the bear may change its mind and attack.
Beware of areas where there are a lot of dead animal and bird carcasses around, as you may be entering a bear or wild animal feeding ground and will be seen as a competing predator. Also, look for aggressive behavior from the start. Bears will snort, paw the ground and pop their jaws as signs they feel threatened or ready to lunge at you. These behaviors may be to get you to back off and leave the area. Do not turn your back and run screaming. Just quietly back up and away until you feel you are at a safe distance.
However, if you do get attacked, the best thing you can do is fight with all your might, protecting your face and neck. Punch, kick, slam your hands into the bears ears, jab at eyes. Do whatever you can to break the bear’s hold on you. If there are several bears, try to climb a tree, use legal bear spray if you have it, pointing the nozzle just above the bear’s head level so that the spray actually falls in its face, which will sting the eyes, nose and ears and send the bear off in the opposite direction. If not, do your best to fight them off while screaming for help.
Bears attack for two reasons: defensively, to protect themselves and their cubs; and offensively, to get your food or to get you as food. Black bears tend to be more predatory and will attack humans moreso than brown bears. Grizzlies are more predatory than black bears. Female bears will be more concerned with protecting their cubs. Know what kinds of animals are common in the area you are hiking or camping. Both black bears and grizzlies will outrun a human, so don’t run away. Often bears do what is called “bluff charging,” which is to charge without actual contact to allow the enemy a chance to back down and leave. Slowly back away if a bear bluff charges you.
Table of Contents
Introduction Part One: The Threats: Natural Disasters
1. The Worst Natural Disasters We’ve Faced
2. Avalanches to Wildfires: The Darker Side of Nature
3. Man-made Disasters
Part Two: Readiness
4. What to Do before It Happens
5. Making a Plan
6. Getting Ready
7. Learning from Preppers and Survivalists
Part Three: Response
8. Should I Stay or Should I Go?
9. First Aid, Triage, and Trauma
10. Travel Safety
11. Personal Safety
12. Wilderness Survival
Part Four: Before, During and After: A to Z
13. Before, During and After It Happens
14. Large-Scale Disasters
15. Dangers in the Home: Domestic and Child Violence, Drug Overdose, and Suicide
16. Lessons from Past Disasters: Harvey, Irma, and the Vegas Massacre
Resources
Appendix: Personal Emergency Action Plan
Further Reading
Index