Disaster Survival

Preparedness
Group 4
 A. Planning: Assembling Emergency kit
Additional Emergency Supplies

Consider adding the following items to your emergency supply kit based on your
individual needs:
- Masks (for everyone ages 2 and above), soap, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes to
disinfect surfaces
- Prescription medications.
- Non-prescription medications
-
- Prescription eyeglasses and contact lens solution
- Infant formula, bottles, diapers, wipes and diaper rash cream
- Pet food and extra water for your pet
- Cash or traveler's checks
- Important family documents records saved electronically or in a
waterproof, portable container
- Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person
- Complete change of clothing appropriate for your climate and sturdy
shoes
- Fire extinguisher
- Matches in a waterproof container
- Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items
- Mess kits, paper cups, plates, paper towels and plastic utensils
- Paper and pencil
- Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children

Maintaining Your Kit

After assembling your kit remember to maintain it so it’s ready when needed:
- Keep canned food in a cool, dry place.
- Store boxed food in tightly closed plastic or metal containers.
- Replace expired items as needed.
- Re-think your needs every year and update your kit as your family’s needs
change.
 Kit Storage Locations
Since you do not know where you will be when an emergency occurs, prepare
supplies for home, work and cars.
- Home
- Work
- Car
B. Learning preparedness skills -Patterns of Survival (Staying Alive)
Survival skills are techniques that a person may use in order to sustain life in any type of natural
environment or built environment. These techniques are meant to provide basic necessities for human
life.
Develop a survival pattern that lets you beat all the odds against you for survival.
This pattern must include the following:
- Food, water, shelter, fire, first aid, and signals placed in order of
importance. For example:
In a cold environment, you would need a fire to get warm; a shelter to
protect you from the cold, wind and rain; traps or snare to get food; a means
to signal for help; and first aid to maintain health. If injured, first aid has top
priority no matter what climate you are in. (INSERT PIC)
 First aid

Shelter

Water (Hydration Pack)

 A. Finding Fast solutions naturally
Fast Solutions come naturally during disasters when you are mentally and
emotionally prepared for it.
● Planning Ahead
● Having knowledge of the Community that you belong
● Breaking Tasks into Small Steps
● Staying Positive
● Being Resourceful
A. Food and water procurement

A. - Food
Animals for food
● Insects
● Worms
● Crustaceans
● Mollusks
● Fish
● Traps and Snares
● Use of bait
● Trap and Snare Construction
● Simple Snare
● Drag Noose
● Twitch-Up

● Twitch-Up Snare
● Squirrel Pole

● Ojibwa Bird Pole

● Noosing Wand

● Treadle Spring Snare

● Paiute Deadfall

● Bow Trap
● Pig Spear Shaft

● Bottle Trap
Killing Devices
● Rabbit Stick
● Spear
● Bow and Arrow
● Sling
Fishing Devices
● Improvised fish hooks
● Stakeout
● Gill Net
● Fish Traps
● Spearfishing
● Chop Fishing
● Fish Poison
Preparation of fish and game for cooking and storage
Fish - Do not eat fish that appear spoiled. Cooking does not ensure that spoiled fish will be
edible. Signs of spoilage are
● Sunken eyes.
● Peculiar odor.
● Suspicious color. (Gills should be red to pink. Scales should be a pronounced shade of
gray, not faded.)
● Dents stay in the fish's flesh after pressing it with your thumb.
● Slimy, rather than moist or wet body.
● Sharp or peppery taste.
Drying Meat
To preserve meat by drying, cut it into 6-millimeter strips with the grain. Hang the meat strips on
a rack in a sunny location with good airflow. Keep the strips out of the reach of animals and cover
them to keep blowflies off. Allow the meat to dry thoroughly before eating. Properly dried meat
will have a dry, crisp texture and will not feel cool to the touch.
Other Preservation Methods
You can also preserve meats using the freezing or brine and salt methods.
Freezing
In cold climates, you can freeze and keep meat indefinitely. Freezing is not a
means of preparing meat. You must still cook it before eating.
Brine and Salt
You can preserve meat by soaking it thoroughly in a saltwater solution. The
solution must cover the meat. You can also use salt by itself. Wash off the salt
before cooking.
Water Procurement
C. Signal
a. Navigation
Survival situations can often be resolved by finding a way to safety, or a more suitable
location to wait for rescue. Types of navigation include:
● Celestial navigation, using the sun and the night sky to locate the cardinal directions
and to maintain course of travel
● Using a map, compass or GPS receiver
● Dead reckoning
● Natural navigation, using the condition of surrounding natural objects (i.e. moss on a
tree, snow on a hill, direction of running water, etc.)
B. Special
● SOS is the most common distress signal known to man. It is the international signal for help
and can be communicated via a variety of methods to signal for rescue. You can use a whistle,
flashlight, flags, mirror, and numerous other devices to signal for help using SOS. The code is
the same regardless: 3 dots, 3 dashes, 3 dots. Dots are comprised of short pulses of about
three seconds. Dashes are longer pulses of about six seconds

● Morse Code is conducted by sending a series of short and long tones and pauses to form a
decipherable message. It is most often associated with the telegram, but Morse code can also
be transmitted optically or using vocalization or vibration. Morse code messages can be sent
by day by waving the arms or a flag. Bringing the flag down on your left side indicates a dot.
Bringing the flag down on your right side represents a dash. To indicate a space between
words you bring the flag(s) down directly in front of you.
● Heliography is the use of the sun’s light to transmit messages. Greek and
Roman soldiers used their polished combat shields, before the US Army
introduced mirrors in the 1880s to communicate across long distances.

● Semaphore, also called wigwagging, is the practice sending messages

using flags. Brightly colored flags have the advantage of being seen from
great distances, especially with the aid of binoculars or other optical
device.Signaling is made even easier if the flag holder stands against a
contrasting background, and in a line of sight free from obstruction.
● Signal Fires may seem like a medieval means of communication, but they are
often the determining factor in a rescue situation. The smoke from a fire (and the
flame itself) can attract the attention of sea, land, and air rescuers by contrasting
against the surrounding landscape.
● Using Bird calls In a disaster survival situation, you’re more likely to use bird
calls and bird behavior to identify the presence of a threat in your area. Certain
birds emit noises and display unusual behavior in the presence of a predator or
severe weather. This activity could serve as an alert to you and give you time to
escape a potential run-in with danger.