End Times Survival Network
Are You Ready?
Please visit my How To Survive A Foreign Invasion hub, How to Survive the End of the World hub, Pandemic Martial Law hub, my Solar Storms hub, and my Sun Cycle 24 hub, thank you for reading. For more information on planning for a disaster please visit my Disaster Planning What to Do and How to Do It Hub
For great information visit: Survival Blog
From the economy to mother nature's wrath, we've all seen the images of those in peril trying desperately to get to safety in the middle of anarchic circumstances. The Tsunami in southeast Asia in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in the Southwestern United States are just two examples of unforeseen tragedy that shook the foundations of hundreds of thousands of civilians. From terrorist threats, civil unrest, viral outbreaks, economic disasters, and mother nature's unforgiving forces we must be ready to react and take matters into our own hands should the need arise.
So now ask yourself, am I ready? So you have a first aid kit, some bottled water, cans of food in a storage bin, some candles, batteries, a radio, a flashlight... maybe if you were really smart you even thought ahead to store some of your medications. You have about two weeks worth of supplies, long enough for any disaster should one occur.
I can tell you right now that you are not prepared for a disaster on the scale of even that of Hurricane Katrina. That being said there is no real way to be completely prepared for any large scale disaster, you can be better prepared than those that are not but you will never have everything you need for a large scale disaster that may last longer than two months. But that is where knowledge and resources win out over all other things.
This blog is to help give you a heads up on what to do if the need should arise and your own personal safety and the safety of your loved ones are in jeopardy.
Oh No Now What?
Let us assume that an unforeseen disaster has taken place and it has knocked out communication or communication has been temporarily disabled, the power is out, highways are blocked, people are panicked, riots have begun, martial law is in effect... what the heck are you supposed to do?
Stay calm... The number one thing you have to do is to stay calm. Use this time to focus on your inventory, preparedness, and planning you will need to stay alive for the coming days that follow. Keep your family unit cohesive and close. Make sure that those of your family that are at school or at work make it home safe. Once this is done then you can be sure that everyone is ready for what happens next. There will be no jaunts out into the world, not right now. These first hours are of critical importance and can be the catalyst to survival or to your demise.
Make a list of what you have and what you have gathered and make sure it is all ready to go.
Here is a list of materials you will need...
Water Supplies
Medical Emergency Supplies
Disaster Foods
Disaster Supplies List (Short Term Survival)
Short Term of Survival Here is a Supplies List - Home Disaster Supplies Kit Check List
Water:# One gallon per person per day; minimum one week supply per family member
To destroy bacteria in water:
1. Allow silt and heavy particles to settle out; pour clean water into cooking container. Heat water to rolling boil and continue boiling 5 minutes.
OR
2. Add 16 drops of plain household liquid bleach (contains 5.25% sodium hypochlorite), to 1 gallon of clean water. Stir and let stand 30 minutes. If water does not have a slight chlorine odor, repeat treatment.
Food Ideas:
3. Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
4. Juices - canned, powdered or crystallized
5. Soups - bouillon cubes or dried soups in a cup
6. Smoked or dried meats such as beef jerky
7. Milk - powdered or canned
8. Sugar
9. Vitamins
10. Stress foods - sugar cookies, hard candy
11. High-energy foods - peanut butter, nuts, trail mix, etc.
Non-Prescription Medications: (always keep back up prescription medications on hand)
12. Aspirin or non-aspirin pain reliever
13. Anti-diarrhea medication
14. Antacid
15. Emetic (to induce vomiting)
16. Laxative
17. Eye wash
18. Rubbing alcohol
19. Antiseptic or hydrogen peroxide
20. Activated charcoal
First-Aid Kits: (Two advised - one for home, one for car) Latex gloves
Supplies:
21. Tools and Supplies: Mess kits, or paper cups, plates, and plastic utensils
22. Emergency preparedness plan for families
23. Battery operated radio and extra batteries (shortwave radio or HAM radio)
24. Flashlight and extra batteries – rechargeable are best
25. Cash or travelers' checks, change (ATM won't work)
26. Safe deposit box key
27. Extra set of car/vehicle keys
28. Non-electric can opener
29. Utility knife / hunting knife
30. Fire extinguisher (small canister) A-B-C type
31. Emergency shelter (tents)
32. Pliers
33. Duct tape
34. Compass
35. Matches in a waterproof container, lighter
36. Aluminum foil
37. Plastic storage containers
38. Signal flare / signal mirror
39. Paper, pencils, pens
40. Needles, thread
41. Medicine dropper
42. Whistle
43. Shut-off wrench for gas and water
44. Plastic sheeting or tarp
45. Dust mask and work gloves
46. Leaf and lawn bags
47. Backpack / cooler
48. Tent and sleeping gear
49. Folding outdoor chairs
50. Crowbar and standard tools (screw drivers, pliers, duct tape)
Weapons and Survival Gear:
51. Rifle and scope (for hunting or protection, ammunition full box)
52. Shotgun (for hunting or protection, ammunition full box)
53. Bow (for hunting)
54. Hunting knife
55. Fishing gear and tackle
56. 500 ft nylon rope (climbing gear)
57. Flint
59. Wilderness survival guide
Sanitation:
60. Toilet paper, towelettes, soap, liquid detergent
61. Feminine supplies
62. Personal hygiene items
63. Plastic garbage bags, ties
64. Small shovel
65. Plastic bucket with tight lid
66. Disinfectant
67. Household chlorine bleach
Personal Gear:
68. Clothing/Bedding: (One complete change per person) Sturdy shoes or work boots
69. Rain gear
70. Blankets or sleeping bags
71. Hat, cap, hooded sweatshirt and gloves
72. Thermal underwear and clothing for layering
73. Sunglasses (UV protection)
74. Extra undergarments and casual wear
Items for Special Needs:
Adults:
75. Prescription Drugs
76. Denture needs
77. Extra eye glasses
78. Contact lenses and supplies
Babies:
79. Formula
80. Diapers
81. Bottles
82. Powdered milk
83. Medications
84. Pedialite
Pets:
85. Medications and medical and vaccination records and a first-aid kit (stored in a waterproof container)
86. Sturdy leashes, harnesses and/or carriers to transport pets safely and ensure animals cannot escape
87. Current photos of your pets
88. Food, potable water, bowls, cat litter/pan and can opener
89. Information on feeding, schedules, medical conditions, behavior problems and the name and phone number of your veterinarian
90. Pet beds and toys, if easily transportable
Entertainment:
91. Games and toys for children; books for adults
Important Family Documents: (copies of the following)
If evacuating, consider taking your computer hard drive and USB drives.
92. Wills, insurance policies, contracts, deeds, stocks and bonds
93. Passports, social security cards, immunization records
95. Bank account numbers
97. Credit card account numbers and companies
98. Inventory of valuable household goods, important telephone numbers
99. Family records (birth, marriage, death certificates)
100. Family photographs
Urban Survival Training
Unprepared Survival
If you are caught off guard by the event and unprepared take inventory of all your food and other supplies you can use.
- Throw away food that is going to spoil or cook it and eat it soon because it will not keep.
- If there is time then run water from your sinks and your baths and your washing machine and fill their basins. This will give you extra water should you run out.
- Remember that your water heater also has water in it.
If possible stay alert to news either by radio or television... if there is no news then sit tight. These few tips can keep you safe for a few days if not a week.
Pandemic Survival Tips
Long Term Survival
You've used up your supplies and you are low on food, the panic has subsided but still there are random break ins in your area, Gangs of people in the city are beginning to conduct raids on homes and official emergency zones. Communication is still reserved only for official use.
To not get caught in an event like this precaution is everything... If at all possible form a team of citizens in your community with different skills, resources, and knowledge bases. This team can then coordinate a plan for survival should an unforeseen catastrophe occur.
Here is a sample of how to set up a team:
Step 1
Gathering your team – put out a call to citizens concerned about survival when it comes to disasters. Ask about their skill sets and their knowledge base and or resources. After enough contacts are made, have a meeting and discuss further in detail what would be the best way to make steps toward being prepared.
Step 2
Meeting Places – When a disaster hits be ready for anything.
A. In small scale normal disasters, phone lines should be up and a phone contact tree should be your first line of communication. Go down the list of names and numbers till you are in contact with a member.
B. Should communication be down then all members of the group must report to an agreed meeting place within the next 24 hours. This meeting place should be in a local park within walking distance or a private home. Churches, schools, fire stations, police stations, hospitals, and stores should be avoided do to bandits and rioters.
C. Once at your meeting place take role and then assess the situation using a rating scale and the set course for the rating of the disaster taking place.
Step 3
Should the disaster only happen to be of a small scale and your private preparedness be adequate to get you through, minimal contact between members will be necessary. But should the disaster be deemed that it will last longer than two weeks then other steps must be taken.
A. In a Stage 3 event of a small scale (less than 2 weeks) members must take inventory of their survival gear and then go back home and wait out the event with minimal contact.
B. In a Stage 2 event lasting over two weeks members need to coordinate and gather supplies and be ready to leave. Leaders of the group should head for what is called a COMMON GROUND. This common ground is a location where community survival group leaders from different locations all gather to meet. (Once a year this gathering will be held in training). There plans will be drawn up for how best to deal with the threat to survival. Log books will be kept by these leaders telling the other groups about their location, number of people, and their supplies. Every two months two members will make the trek to an agreed upon safe meeting place and inform the other groups of their safe ground camps condition.
C. In a Stage 1 event (catastrophic) Stage 2 Common Ground will be implemented automatically overriding Stage 3 completely... Gather your gear and supplies and get your group to safe ground. Leaders should head to the common ground meeting place right away. This is an evacuation event and in this case the goal is to reach prepared safe ground.
Safe Ground
Safe Ground
Preparations for Safe Ground
The Preparations and planning for a long term survival living situation is to find a communal location away from society in a safe zone. This zone should be chosen for its resources, living conditions, and it's defensibility. Questions to consider are things like... Is it in a place able to grow food and support a large group of people for sustainability? Is it accessible enough for even those that may be injured old or young yet still defensible against and attack from marauders and bandits? Are there resources such as trees for wood, a water source, buildings, or other such resources that may help you survive and limit the amount of supplies needed to be hauled to the site.
Once supplies are at the site preparation for dwellings should be made, materials and other things such as water tanks, and permanent buildings should be set up before hand. A good design for a safe ground is those of the Nord Viking clans where the commune or village is rounded with one side set aside for agriculture and farming and the other half set up for dwellings and other buildings.
What Next?
So what happens after everyone has arrived at your safe ground encampment? Work and planning... those first days are going to be tense. Leaders should take the initiative and set tasks for all members of the party. Having things to do will take peoples minds away from dwelling on worries that they can do little about.
Each village should have an area for communal gathering. A common house with a kitchen and meeting room. These places will provide families with a place to gather and talk, they also serve as good places to conduct meetings for discussions and planning. They will undoubtedly be an asset for those that are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
A triage building with medical supplies and medical equipment should be already prepared and on site. Other buildings such as a machine shop with a generator, storage sheds for seed and tools, weapons holding building, out houses, bathing quarters and believe it or not a jail... should all be set up before the safe ground is ever used.
This amount of preparation for something we may never need is better than needing it and not having it. Even if we live out our lives never having to use a safe ground this is something that can be used by other people in the future should an unforeseen catastrophe occur.
Stay Informed
Two Month Meetings: It's been two months... Now is the time to send out two members with the log book to make contact with the other safe ground villages. Once at the meeting place exchange information that has been logged down. Talk about supplies, any events effecting moral, any sicknesses or other blights that have caused problems within your group, any mauraders or bandit raids. This line of communication will help the villages work as a coherent unified society and allow for help if the need should arise.
Scouts: Scouts can be sent out within a reasonable amount of time, they should head out in the morning and be back by nightfall the next day. These scouts may be able to tell the community if things are getting better or worse concerning the world at large. This will be done by pure observation and under no circumstances should contact be made by a member of a scouting party.
Local Emergency Training and Officials
It's a good idea to know if your community has disaster programs in place so that you can get a good idea of how they operate in your area.
- See if there is a CERT (citizens emergency responce team) organization in your area.
- Contact your local fire dept. for information on how they respond in case of large disasters.
- Find out where teams set up disaster relief centers in your area.
These things can also help prepare you for what to expect. Information like this can tell you where to go for supplies, water, shelter and other things should you caught up in an event with no prior preparations.
Training On Homesteading and Survival:
Why Should I care, this isn't gunna happen
I am an astronomy buff... I read Sky and Telescope, Astronomy Magazine, and am a registered visitor of space.com. I've been into astronomy since I was 11 years old and now I am 33, I've learned about solar cycles, seen what they can do like in 1989 in Canada and know that with the way technology is run today we are very vulnerable to the effects of Solar activity.
So what right? So I believe that the solar maximum of 2012 is going to cause problems with our networks, from cell phones to the internet. This will cause problems with communication and from there even transactions from credit and debit machines. The cascade will come when a large enough event knocks out the worlds power grids.
Other Disasters
For Information on other cataclysmic events visit:
How To Survive a Foreign Invasion (War)
Solar Storms What They Could Mean For Us
Now I'm not trying to freak out the public, no I'm just keeping people informed. Even if nothing happens then hey you are ready for when it does...
I hope that this blog is informative and I will keep adding information concerning survival and preparedness for such events. Thank you for reading.