By Ourselves, For Ourselves: Part 5

Allrighty then!

I was not able to find the particular disk I was looking for with the original post on it, so this is the re-write. It is pretty darn close to the original though so dig in.

Again, we are going on with the fact that we cannot rely on our government to protect us from the common cold, let alone terrorism. So this set of posts is somewhat of a primer on some preparations you might want to take in order to make the bad times not so bad.

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We have, in this series, been talking about getting yourself, your family and your home ready for a semi extensive bunkering during difficult times, such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Today, were going to deviate from this line of thinking a bit.

You aren�t always at home. You go to work, to the store, to friends and relatives homes, etc and you will need a plan for if you get caught away from your home in a natural disaster or terrorist attack so that you can get back to your home, even if it only going to serve as a supply base.

First though, I must apologize for not covering a very important subject before deviating in this manner. First Aid is something that everyone should know and supplies for aid are something that everyone should have.

I am still searching through First Aid supply houses for the best deals so as to help folks assemble a proper kit. I am doing this because the majority of the kits you can buy at an Army/Navy surplus store or from a magazine are vastly inadequate.

As soon as I find all the necessary links (hopefully in another week or so) I�ll get that post up.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand; the readiness of your vehicle.

Scenario 1: At the mall with the wife. She is wandering in and out of the stores while you�re wishing you were at your local hobby shop. Whether that hobby is the auto parts store, the boat shop or the gun shop, it doesn�t matter, and you�re wondering why she needs another freaking pair of shoes.

Moments later, a moderately large explosion happens at the other end of the mall. A suicide bomber in the KayBee Toys.

Scenario 2: You�re at your local hobby shop and you�re BSing the Saturday afternoon away, as is your want.

Mother Nature acts up and you are now at the boat shop during an earthquake of 7.5. Your wife and kids are at home, 20 minutes away. At least, you’re pretty sure they are.

Remember, your vehicle is an extension of your home. George Carlin has an entire skit on �versions of your stuff�. He uses vacations as his example. We�re going to use your vehicle.

First up, for both of the above scenarios you will need a first aid kit (which is why I apologized for not covering those yet). You will want a kit that will cover ten people minimally. Twenty five would be a better idea. Burns, cuts and broken bones will be your most frequently found wounds and you should supply your kit accordingly.

Next, you should already have in your vehicle, emergency kits of tools and parts for minor vehicle repairs, blankets, sources of light and heat, food, water and toiletries. For the last five supplies, you should plan on at least three days for yourself so as to have enough for any extra people you might have with you at any given time.

Your First Aid kit should be kept in a backpack so that you can carry other items with your hands. It would be a good idea to have a large enough backpack so that you can put your water supply in the backpack as well. These will be the two things the wounded will need the most.

Finally, just like your home, you will want to have firearms and ammunition readily available.

Wherever I go, I have my 1911 and 2-8 round mags on my person for a total of 25 rounds. Good enough for stopping a punk robbing a 7-11, but not what you want for dealing with bad guys laden with long arms. So in my truck I have another 100 rounds of 45ACP and either an SKS or a Remington 870 with 200 rounds for each long gun.

While there are risks with keeping a firearm in you vehicle, theft being the largest, there are a number of ways to keep a long gun in your vehicle safely if you do decide to do this. Check with your local statutes about the storage of firearms in vehicles. All I have to do in Washington is store it unloaded and locked in a case or in a different part of the vehicle than the ammunition to be legal. Follow your local laws as I will not be responsible for you breaking them.

The easiest precautions are the ones that you should already be doing and that is parking your vehicle in busy, well lit and open areas and also keeping the firearm out of sight from potential thieves such as in the trunk or hatchback of you car or behind the seats of your truck.

You will want to keep the long gun in a hard shelled, locking case and the bigger the case the better. If the thief has to not only get this big thing out of your vehicle and then haul it around and then cut it open, he may be less inclined to take it. Another thing you can do is to cut the carry handles off. You won�t be carrying this anywhere, so you don�t need them, and it will make the case harder for the thief to heft around.

You do not need to keep a full-on battle rifle in your vehicle. A carbine will do just fine. There was a time I kept a Model 94 Winchester Trapper lever gun in 357Mag in my truck. I bought the SKS to replace it because the Trapper came with walnut stocks and I didn�t like dinging them up. If the S does seriously HTF and you are not at home, you may need to fight your way home. Imagine trying to accurately fire a Garand and drive at the same time.

In scenario #1, you have to do three things: First, protect the wife (especially if she is not a gunny-gal) and yourself, then determine if the suicide bomber has armed friends who are running around to kill the survivors and first responders, then treat the wounded.
You will need to make at least one trip to your vehicle for your supplies and you will have to make the determination as to what to have the wife do. Does she stay hunkered down in the shoe store or follow you out to the truck? If you decide she follows to the vehicle, does she stay there or follow you back in with the water, medical supplies and weapons?

Remember, in Israel they are facing pairs of suicide bombers; one who blows themselves up and another who blows up those who are helping the victims of the previous bomber.

Either way, when you get back into the building, make sure that 911 has been called and start triaging the wounded. Hopefully this is an isolated incident and not part of a combined attack plan and EMT and fire units will be able to arrive soon.

In scenario #2 your first responsibility is to get the wounded out from under debris and triaged. Have those that aren�t injured dig out those that are while you go to your vehicle for your kit.

The power will probably be out, so remember to bring your light source. When you get back, make sure everyone known to be in the building is accounted for. If anyone is status unknown, hand off your light source to someone able bodied and have them go look for others while you�re taking care of the wounded.

Once the situation at your location is under control, you will want to go home and see what the situation there is. But, before you can do that, you may need to drop off the wounded at the local hospital.

Remember, there are probably dozens, if not hundreds of wounded in your area and EMTs will not be able to respond to and transport everyone, everywhere effectively. Know your location in contrast to the medical facilities and plan your route accordingly. The roads will probably be clogged, especially within the vicinity of the hospital and you may need to leave your vehicle and carry or help the wounded into the building.

Now you have to make another decision. Do you stay at the hospital and help or do you go home. This all depends on the situation and you have to make that call. On the way to the hospital, you should try to get in touch of those at your house. If everything is well at home base, no damage, no one running around looting the neighborhood, it might be a good idea to stay at the hospital for a while and help the staff. Otherwise, you can always go, check everything out at home and try to get in touch with family and come back to the hospital.

These are things that we all need to think about in this day and age. While scenario #2 is seemingly more likely than scenario #1, you should prepare for both.