SHOPPING > Survival Straps

[One of those must have items for a 72 hr bag/go-bag/disaster kit...]

courtesy of survivalstraps.com

FREE > Isolation & Quarantine Response Planning Toolkit

In the absence of rapid and definitive diagnostic tests, vaccines, or cures, isolation and quarantine remains Public Health's best strategy against the spread of mass illness. Public Health - Seattle & King County (Public Health) is an Advanced Practice Center for Emergency Preparedness and established this Planning for Isolation & Quarantine Response Web Toolkit to support local Public Health jurisdictions in their efforts to plan for and manage a large-scale isolation and quarantine response. The Toolkit is designed for all types of users and is separated by topic for the ease of use and navigation.

WEBINAR 19JUL2011 > Preparing For the Unexpected: The Trigger Events for Systemic Failure

Preparing For the Unexpected: The Trigger Events for Systemic Failure

Join us for a Webinar on July 19

This topic outlines the situation, complications and solutions to help leaders ensure the continuity of business operations in the face of unprecedented risks. The hypothesis is that a convergence of many long wave cycles is increasing the probability and impact of large scale disasters such as the incident in Japan. Surviving and thriving amidst these threats requires an enterprise resiliency plan that encompasses all internal functions, suppliers, and enterprise eco-system touch points. Are you prepared?

Military > Pilots risk their lives in daring medical evacuation

Photo by U.S. Army 1st Lt. Alexander Babcock, 4th CAB Public Affairs

[Great article about a risky troop extraction for a medical emergency in Afghanistan on 17FEB2011, that earned two pilots the Distinguished Flying Cross.]

CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan – Two U.S. Army helicopter pilots earned the rare Distinguished Flying Cross award June 16 for a daring evacuation of two wounded ground troops during the raid of an insurgent compound in February. Full article

FREE Course > Surviving Field Stress for First Responders

[For those of you that do not want to take the course, I have attached the 60 page  > handbook  that is of the same title.  A must have for anyone who is a first responder...]

First responders to a traumatic event are tasked with applying their expertise under incredibly stressful conditions. This webcast deals with the physical, emotional, and mental stressors first responders face when called to a technological disaster. It gives practical coping strategies and resources for dealing with stress.

Goal   To help the responder or those they assist be prepared for the stressors of twenty-first century disasters.

Objectives   Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be able to: Describe psychological stress. Explain common causes of stress. Describe the mental and physical health effects of excessive stress. Describe the social, physical, and emotional causes of first responders stress. Identify methods to cope with field related stress. Identify strategies for assisting members of the public adults and children, with their disaster-related stress in your role as first responder.

Target Audience   Health-care providers, federal, state, and local public health and emergency management officials.

Security for Artisans: A reflective practitioner’s view of today’s security professional and the protection business

Great article, 2 mins read.  KATE HALE (Hurricane Andrew:  “Where the hell is the cavalry on this one?”) wherever you are (Jamestown),  I think the writer must know you and wrote this with you in mind!

Security is receptive to scientific advance, but is no field for scientists to dominate. The exigencies of protection are too fluid and the stakes too high for submitting one's livelihood, assets, or life to rigid metrics and laboratory-grade theories that fall apart on first contact with mortal hazard. On the other hand, security is no long-term home for artists, either. Not that the protective world need be  inhospitable to creativity or innovation – particularly if these produce desired protection on time and within ambient resource constraints. However, the artist's highest aspiration to be and do something unique will find a better home elsewhere. In the protection business, it is not only useful but necessary to be able to replicate and commoditize one's highest achievement, to spread it widely and often without taking credit for it. In this context, die-hard artists will surely look to greener pastures more befitting their egos and temperaments. Where does that leave us, then, if security is neither art nor science and if security welcomes visitors from both camps but offers a home to neither?
Security professionals are as frustrated or stymied as anyone else. They learn to make peace with an imperfect world and navigate the uncertain waters that raise them high one day, only to submerge them the next day. Over time, security professionals learn to take vicissitudes in graceful stride. They learn to anticipate adverse consequences, and this knowledge carries over into organizational life. They see it coming. Ideally, they dodge the blow. When dodging is no option, at least they brace for the punch.  Read more...

Tornadoes > Lessons from the wreckage: How Alabama could help tornado preparedness?

Meteorologists are combing through the damage from last week's historic tornado outbreak in Alabama, hoping to find clues about how to save more lives in the future. -csmonitor.com

A reconstruction of the storm tracks for all the tornadoes that touched down April 27 in the Southeastern United States during the largest one-day tornado outbreak in US history. Bright reds, oranges and yellows show tracks of where rotation was strongest, as detected by NWS Doppler radars.  USDA Farm Service Agency / National Weather Service / NOAA

Self Reliance > 10 ways to make money off/on your land

Great article on making money from your farm/land.  It's about a 10 min read.

Shopping > CampingSurvival.com

This site has tons of great equipment for reasonable prices, and they have great sales! Go to website...  

Image courtesy of:
campingsurvival.com

Survivor vs Quitter > SEALFIT, Forging Mental Toughness

This is an excellent article describing the difference between surviving and not surviving, the mental toughness it takes to do BOTH!  Okay, so it is written by a company selling a product, but the article is excellent none the less.  In fact, that it is written by a company selling something, is probably why it is such a great article. 5 minute read. Read more...

Image courtesy of:  sealfit.infusionsoft.com

Inca Empire>- Ultimate Disaster Survivalists, in a sick sort of way...

Interesting story from National Geographic; a little long, but well worth the read.  These guys were the ultimate survivalists, and fit into the definition of 'terrorist'...yet, not as bad as Genghis Khan. 

Lofty Ambitions of the Inca

Rising from obscurity to the heights of power, a succession of Andean rulers subdued kingdoms, sculpted mountains, and forged a mighty empire.

"Llamas used as:  Jeeps, K-rations and fatigues, all in one...
Playing panpipes carved from the bones of enemies and war drums fashioned from the flayed skins of dead foes, his soldiers advanced toward the Colla forces, a moving wall of terror and intimidation."  Read more...