Urban Survival - Volume 2

This section introduces the student to the essence of survival medicine concepts. The lectures within this section are not intended to replace medical expertise in any form, rather they are concepts and potential options that may assist the survivor to maintain a high level of health amidst the challenges of service and supply lack. 'Where there is no Doctor', we must embrace that capability ourselves and take full responsibility for our own wellbeing in as many ways as possible. Learn first aid, learn remote area first aid, learn to use herbs and traditional medicines, learn all you can ... Today, for tomorrow will eventuate and then it may be too late.

Field hygiene remains one of the most overlooked aspects of survival medicine. Throughout the history of human conflict and warfare, arrows, spears, bombs and bullets have always created fewer casualties than disease amongst the troops. Those armies whose discipline was high, maintained high standards of field hygiene and enjoyed a consequent battlefield advantage. Survival hygiene is equally as vital to the survivor. Despite the challenges of utility outages, and general lack of normally available hygiene products, we must plan for and apply a disciplined approach to personal and group hygiene lest we suffer a decline in health. Strong body is a precept of sound survival training in this course.

During this lecture we discuss the type of medical equipment that you might reasonably expect to have use of in a total collapse environment. By the lectures conclusion you will have a sound understanding of what and why you should plan to have on hand particular medical items.

To build your post disaster medical system congruently, you will need to understand preventative health concepts to firstly keep yourself and others in the best condition possible and secondly how to manage wounds effectively to return yourself or others to a state of health. This lecture will take you through a range of considerations in light of these two vital areas of medical preparedness.

If you face a situation where supply is cut, where no more medicine is available what would you do? Even if you have pharmaceutical supplies to hand, they will inevitably degrade and expire rendering them useless. During this lecture we consider a range of alternative medicine options. We look at options that are more long lived and in many cases actually more effective than pure chemical based medicines.

This lecture will cover a range of medical specific reference manuals that are generally available and will provide you with a reasonable breadth of resource material to aid you in survival medicine situations. It is stressed that this information is vital in scenarios where there is no higher level of medical care available, i.e., a total civil collapse. When it boils down to the reality of there being just you on the ground dealing with critically ill patients, you will want to do something! These books and resources may provide you with some options that compliment your level of medical skill and knowledge.

This lecture cuts to the chase. We discuss the trend and issue of having a cadet for every eventuality and why that is a poor approach to real survival situations. We'll recalibrate your thinking along the lines of proven, common sense items of equipment that seek to address key areas and meet 'needs' rather than wants. We'll be discussing what really works as to what is gimmicky and looks good but lacks actual functionality. This is a tough lecture, but very necessary for you to be authentic and brutally honest about what you can carry, and what you need. The survivor must prioritise all available resources and this begins again that process.

'Dressing for battle' is a concept that I developed and teach to move students beyond the idea of dressing to impress. The core principle being that your day wear is also your first line of personal protective equipment. Do you wear clothing items that will allow you to drag an injured person from a car wreck, or do you dress to just look good and find yourself standing on the side lines watching as others move into action? Can you fight, run, jump and move in what you wear day to day? What else do you carry that might be of use in an emergency? All of these concepts result in a layering of equipment in the urban survival space. After completing this lecture you will know what to wear and what to carry and why.

During this lecture we examine in some detail the nature of items that might make up your Every-Day-Carry (EDC). We explore some of the 'what' and 'why' issues of equipment selection and carriage. Again we de-bunk the idea of carrying too much or less than useful items.

How do you prove who you are in totally chaotic and out of control environment when computer systems and other record keeping technologies are out of action? We have such a heavy reliance today on electronic data technologies with that trend likely to continue to expand in the future. What identification documents are important and how do you manage them? Do you have E-copy documents at all in the urban survival scenario? The answers to those questions and more are contained in this lecture.

The question of what to pack in your gear is highly personal and very much dependent on the level of survival competence, perceived relationship to life support needs and the potential severity/longevity of the disaster event we encounter. Everyone will have their own mental list of what they are going to need. The aim of this lecture is simply to propose some considerations to assist in fine tuning that personal list. Ultimately, the list is finite as we can never carry everything. The trick to it is to carry the highest priority items over lower priority bits and pieces. There is considerable merit in striving to travel light and lean, so limiting weight is a must. By the end of this lecture you will have a better idea of what is likely to be a higher priority item and why you should carry those in lieu of other equipment.

The reality is that you might get to drive out of a major city at the outset of a major disaster event, but you are equally likely to be unable to do so. You should pack your vehicle for evacuation with total acceptance that you may have to leave the vehicle behind. That means all of your vital gear and resources must be in back packs that you can quickly load up and move off with. There might not be sufficient time to re-pack or re-organise your resources. You may need to ditch your vehicle under duress or attack circumstances. After completing this lecture you will understand that packing your vehicle in a concertina type manner allows you to unpack and escape on foot rapidly without leaving behind essential life support and security items.

When things go terribly wrong on a mass scale, its too late to attempt to identify somewhere safe to take your family to. You are going to be competing with many others for prime locations that are within walking range of where you live now. You need to identify a number of locations that might be of use to you now. You need to keep it very real, geared to your family or groups limitations. When you arrive there, what do you expect to have access to? Is there sustainable shelter, water and food? What might the security picture look like? How long can you potentially remain there? There's a lot to think about and the time to do that thinking is right now! This lecture will aim to prompt you to consider the numerous factors involved in deciding where to go when you do decide to evacuate.

Beyond identifying where to go in a bug out scenario, we need to responsibly plan to travel there, determine the likely sustainability potential and security pictures as discussed in the previous lecture. You also need undertake a thorough reconnaissance of both the intended (primary) route to move to that location and at least one alternate route. This provides you with flexibility in your planning. Plan to evacuate, plan where to go, plan who is coming with you, plan, plan, plan. If you fail to plan you plan to fail. By lectures end you will have a good grasp of what you need to including in your evacuation plan.

A mass disaster event occurs. Do you evacuate immediately or shelter-in-place for a period of time. Why would you not evacuate, what might be happening outside the four walls of your home that might prompt you to stay put in the short term? There's a range of factors to consider and during this lecture we discuss many of them.

You have made the decision to bug-out to a safer location. When specifically are you going to depart? Who do you need to take with you? How are you going to effect your evacuation plan? Again, there are a range of considerations and factors that you need to take into account. This lecture will flag many of these considerations to ensure that you have the best outcome possible following an emergency evacuation.

When major disaster events impact you and your family one of the most important actions you will want to take is to get everyone home together safely as soon as possible. In this lecture we explain the use of a default rendezvous system that you and you family can employ to ensure you meet up quickly, have alternate safe locations to wait things out at. By lectures end you will understand how to implement a solid, no technology RV procedure into your family evacuation planning.

For centuries spies have utilised the Dead-Letter-Box (DLB) system to remain in contact with their handlers and superiors in near total anonymity. This system was used to protect the identity of all players in the spy game. It was a method of leaving a message/information in a specific and secure location known only to those involved. Learn how to employ this same system in your family emergency plan to leave messages for family members if you are forced to evacuate without them, know they will check in at the DLB before evacuating themselves and many other potential situations. This lecture covers it all.

As part of your emergency planning you might consider it prudent to have food, medicine, ammunition, cash, clothing or other items cached ahead of time. These items might be cached at your RV location to ensure that you have the essentials on arrival. They may even be something you consider concealing along your planned evacuation route to provide you with necessary items along the way. After completing this lecture you will have a sound understanding of what a cache is and how to use them to bolster your emergency planning.

In the aftermath of a total collapse of the supply chain and the breakdown of community structure you will still need to obtain key supplies such as medicine, ammunition, food and water. Accordingly you will need to plan to trade & barter for what you need. Cash, E-curreny and credit cards will likely all be useless. It will return to item for item trade. In this lecture we explore what that might look like and how we might go about the process.

It will be important to understand what goods and services are going to be in high demand in a supply shortage environment. What should you plan to have available? What is portable, wanted and considered valuable in a collapse environment? By the end of this lecture you will understand what is likely to be considered a high value good or service.

You have planned for trade and barter, you have your supply of high value items now how do you safely go about the actual trading? During this lecture we examine what you need to consider to keep your self and your valuables safe in that situation. We also discuss the process of bargaining to ensure you get the best deal for your trades.

This lecture aims to provide some more detailed information concerning specific disaster events that may consequently impact on the reliability of the urban supply chain and societal functionality. While this course generally does not focus on specific causal events it is still important to at least discuss and consider particular preparedness measures pertaining to complex scenarios. Events in the order of global financial collapse, pandemics, war, etc are considered in the context of this lecture.

Everyone plans to have a gun when the world descends into chaos. That's great but what calibre of firearm, what type and nature is going to best serve you in a situation like that? Is it better to have a weapon that enables you to effectively hunt for small game for food or do you need to have firearms for protection? There's a lot to think about when it comes to selecting which firearm is going to be most suitable. During this lecture we consider these questions with a very hefty dose of common sense. We highlight the non-emotive reality of what that firearm needs to do for you to make it worthwhile carrying.

This activity will get you thinking about your home and neighbourhood. It is an activity you an do anytime to simply undertake a cold-eyes assessment of what is going to work for and against you if things deteriorated into a destabilised environment where you live.

This lecture simply rounds the course out and brings the material to a close.