Survive a School Shooting

The tragedy at Chardon High School is another reminder that it's open season for criminals or wackos to bring guns on campus and shoot whomever they want.

I say it's open season because schools have declared themselves to be "off limits" for carrying firearms. That means law-abiding folks have been disarmed and left at the mercy of those who don't care what the law says. The old saying is true: when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

Pardon me for including the cry-baby "outsider" kids in the category of outlaws, but that's exactly what they area. You won't find me shedding any tears of sympathy for the nut-job students who get it in their head that it's okay to bring guns to school and shoot the place up because they weren't included in the popular peer group, or even because they were bullied. Hell, I was bullied when I was a kid. Any kid who wasn't a bully got bullied by the jerks who were. But back in my day we just took our knocks then sucked it up and toughed it out until we grew up and got strong enough to defend ourselves. Nobody shot anybody, at least I never heard about it happening.

But today, school shootings are, unfortunately, not uncommon. In a report on FoxNews.com by Larry Banaszak, chief of police at Otterbein University, he said, "At a recent FBI training that I attended, the agent commented that more people are killed by gunfire in our schools than by fires or tornados."

I'm not sure about those statistics, but apparently the problem is serious enough that there is training aimed specifically at dealing with this issue.

Then Banaszak went on to describe the shooter-on-campus survival concepts that are now taught at his university: "There are three basic survival responses," he said, "run, hide and barricade, then as a last resort attack the shooter."

That final option is very interesting. It goes like this — the first person who notices that someone has a gun yells GUN, then everyone else in the room starts throwing stuff at the attacker, books, chairs, tables, whatever is handy, aiming for the bad guy's face and eyes. That is intended to cause him to flinch, denying him the opportunity to take aim at anyone in particular.

During that exact moment, occupants of the besieged room rush the gunman, swarming and tackling him. The first few people in the swarm attack the assailant's gun hand, slamming it to the ground. Other swarmers pile on the gunman's body, holding him down while the first ones strip the gun away.

Students at the university are taught  to place belts, t-shirts, etc. around the shooter's throat and into his nose, mouth and eyes to disrupt his ability to breathe and see. Meanwhile, someone is calling the police. The swarmers remain on top of the gunman until police arrive, allowing him to breathe, but nothing else.

This tactic has its critics, but when asked to come up with an alternative, they don't have anything to suggest. You can either sit there like a fish in a barrel and get shot, or you can take action to disarm the intruder. Personally, if I'm going down, at least I'm going down fighting.

Until schools wise up and allow (in fact require) qualified personnel to carry defensive weapons on campus so they can stop a shooter with a well-placed double-tap, that venue will remain safe hunting ground for anyone who decides to stroll into the classroom and start executing helpless targets of opportunity.

At least the swarm concept gives the victims a fighting chance to save themselves. And, by the way, the "attack the shooter" tactic can be used anywhere — a store, a fast food restaurant, etc., not only at school.

I applaud Banaszak and the Otterbein University for taking these steps toward protecting their students.

Prepare For Emergencies

Imagine being a passenger in an airplane when an emergency happens. Right about then, I would hope the pilot had been trained exhaustively in the science of how to handle emergencies.

When I was going through Jump School in the Army, we spent a full day under the direction of Colonel Welch in a class called "malfunctions." The course was designed to educate us new paratroopers about every conceivable thing that could possibly go wrong — with the aircraft, with our parachutes, with other jumpers on the plane or in the air.

What do you do if the plane crashes on takeoff? What do you do if the plane catches fire while on the way to the drop zone? What do you do if the engines fail? What do you do if another jumper collapses before making it to the jump door? What do you do if your parachute gets fouled in any number of ways?

We spent about 8 hours being drilled about all the contingencies, because those were the procedures that would save our lives if an emergency happened.

I'm convinced the same concept should be applied to preparing for survival emergencies right here on the ground. Emergency situations come in all shapes and sizes, but having thought about what you would do under a variety of conditions will place you in a better position to survive.

• What would you do if your house caught fire while you were in the basement…or in the attic…or in the bathtub? Any room, for that matter. 

• What would you do if you had a flat tire on a dark and stormy night in a bad neighborhood?

• What would you do if a tanker truck overturned on the freeway upwind of your home, spilling toxic chemicals into the atmosphere?

• What would you do if your fishing boat overturned on the lake, dumping you into near-freezing water?

• What would you do if three men wearing ski masks burst through your door and took your wife and children hostage at gunpoint?

• What would you do if a man walked up to your car window while you were stopped at a red light and pointed a gun at you, demanding that you open the door?

• What would you do if your friend suddenly grasped at his chest and collapsed to the floor?

• What would you do if the power was knocked out permanently by an EMP, destroying even your auxiliary power generator?

Okay, I'll stop. But the point I want to make is that it's prudent to consider every eventuality and, inasmuch as possible, prepare yourself to handle them.

You wouldn't want to be a passenger on an airplane being flown by a pilot who had never practiced what to do when an emergency happens. And the same applies to emergencies that happen right here on solid ground.

One final note — during my jump career, I experienced three malfunctions, all of which had been covered in that famous day of training. With precious little time to spare before hitting the ground, my training kicked in and I was able to handle the situations.

Thank you Colonel Welch!

Grizzly Attack

A grizzly bear has you in his sights — not because you came between a mother and her cubs, but just because you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. So, what are you going to do?

If you try to run, you're dead meat. You can't outrun a grizzly, and the very act of running will trigger an attack.

Here's a link to a short video that shows exactly what to do. Note that grizzly bears often "bluff charge" just to scare off whatever is irritating them, without following through with a full-blown attack. If you run, it will chase you down and probably maul you — or worse. If you stand your ground and do not "threaten" the bear, it might do what this bear in the video did — go look for a tree to scratch its back.

Anyway, enjoy the video (there's a short commercial before the video starts, so be patient), and hopefully learn from it.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1482193676001/?intcmp=features

Doomsday Legislation

What some people are calling the "Doomsday Bill" is really House Bill 85 that was recently approved in the Wyoming legislature. Passage of the bill is a first step toward the state creating a task force that would explore methods of handling the needs of the citizens in the event of a national government collapse.

Imagine that — it isn't just the "lunatic fringe" that is talking about national collapse anymore. Now it's state legislatures. State Representative Lorraine Quarberg said, "I don't think there's anyone in this room today that would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape — because clearly that is not the case. To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad is going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy."

Maybe there's something to all the concern about a bankrupt economy, fuel prices out of control, draconian regulations, and the TSA fondling grandma and pulling the diapers off of babies at the behest of a federal government run amok. Maybe we really are in trouble in this country. Duh!

Back to the Doomsday Bill. According to reports, the task force would be made up of state lawmakers, the director of the Wyoming Department of Homeland Security, the Wyoming attorney general, the Wyoming National Guard's adjutant general, plus some others.

The plan is that, if there is a collapse of the federal government, the state would be able to issue its own currency, enabling residents to carry on commerce within the state borders. Also, the task force will explore  scenarios under which the state would activate its own military (I'm guessing it would operate under Army National Guard and Air National Guard authority).

My response to all this is an enthusiastic round of applause. It's about time the states start exercising their rights and responsibilities to proactively engage in survival preparation and protection of its citizens.

Of course, I am not a proponent of relying on government at any level (federal, state, or local) to take care of me and my family. As individuals, the buck stops with us. You are responsible for you and yours. I am responsible for me and mine.

When the fertilizer hits the fan, I'm not looking for any level of government to hand be an umbrella.

Still, I have to say, "Way to go Wyoming!" Now, who's next?

Could Black Death Strike Again?

The year was 1348. Merchant ships arriving in Europe and the Mediterranean brought an unexpected cargo — black rats that had smuggled themselves aboard somewhere in the Far East. The rats were host to Oriental rat fleas, and the fleas were host to the Yersinia pestis bacterium. The fleas and their bacterium found new hosts among the human population, spreading their disease that, over the next few years, killed somewhere between 30% and 60% of Europe's population as more than 100 million people perished from what became known as the Black Death.

Small animals such as rats were once common in the population centers of the world. They still are, but eradication efforts in the more civilized areas of the world help keep them under control. Those efforts notwithstanding, places like New York City and other major cities in what is supposed to be a civilized part of the world continue to have a rat problem. On top of that, people have taken to keeping rats as pets. My, how things have changed.

But have things really changed? Could it be possible for another Black Death incident to erupt?

Rats feast on garbage. Humans create garbage. It follows that human activity attracts rats and fosters the growth of rat population. So what if there was an increase in the amount of garbage in our cities? How could that happen, and what would be the result?

I'll leave you to ponder the answers to those questions and segue to a related topic — how to remain safe around small animals in the wilds. You know how it goes — you arrive at a campground, or perhaps just pull over for a rest stop at a popular overlook high in the mountains. The next thing you know, chipmunks, bushy tailed squirrels, and perhaps the occasional raccoon come squeaking toward you looking for a handout. They've become accustomed to people feeding them, so they expect you to do the same.

So, what are my rules in this situation?

• Don't feed them, even if they look hungry. It's tempting to feed seemingly friendly wildlife, but that accomplishes two negative ends; it makes them dependent, and it encourages them to hang round a human camp, which is dangerous for small critters. 
• Don't try to touch. A startled or sick animal may scratch or bite you, transmitting disease. The range of diseases you can contract from small animals includes rabies, bubonic plague, hanta virus, among others. 

Small animals are cute, and Hollywood has trained us to believe they're friendly and safe to handle. That is not necessarily true.

Okay, back to the original topic. What would it take to launch another round of Black Death in the major population centers of the world? Not much. A labor strike among sanitation workers would immediately choke the city streets and sidewalks with garbage. We might take those workers for granted, but they are a major link in our survival, as they remove the primary attraction that would bring a riot of rats among us.

That said, are you prepared with a method of eliminating your own garbage in the event of a shutdown of garbage removal service? What about all your neighbors? Are you prepared to evacuate from the epicenter of what would potentially become ground zero for an outbreak of disease?

Maybe it's time to think about how you would keep yourself and your loved ones safe if something like that happened. Because it's only a matter of time.

How to Survive an Avalanche

Surviving an avalanche depends on a combination of situational awareness, equipment, and luck. But we want to take as much of the luck element out of it as possible and increase our chances of survival through the other two factors.

Situational awareness means being aware of the situation (simple, huh?). When you’re in mountainous snow country, it’s important to understand what causes an avalanche, and avoid those conditions. A snowy day in Kansas won’t produce a slide, no matter what conditions exist. But on a steep slope, gravity is always trying to pull the snow downslope, and if you’re in the way when a cornice breaks or a slab of snow slides loose, you’re in trouble.

If you’re caught in an avalanche, the key to survival is to stay on top of the snow. You might get tumbled and tossed on the way to the bottom of the canyon, but you don’t want to end up buried when the snow stops sliding. It’s something like fighting your way to the surface if you were tossed out of the raft on a whitewater trip, and were carried along by the violent current. That’s the same principle for surviving an avalanche.

The biggest threat for avalanche victims is being beneath the surface when the slide stops. Suddenly the snow sets up hard like concrete and you can’t move anything that’s below the surface. And you can’t breathe very long. Suffocation is a real threat. If someone doesn’t locate you almost immediately, you’ll probably die within 15 or 20 minutes. Most victims die because they can’t be located and rescued in time.

One technique for survival is to attempt to “swim” on the sliding snow, to keep yourself on the surface so you can either self-extricate or be spotted and rescued by others. Staying on the surface also allows the trapped individual to be able to breathe.

Swimming is still a good technique, but new developments in technology now raise the survival rate dramatically by employing an old concept — an inflatable avalanche life vest. In fact, just this past weekend, a deadly avalanche in Washington State caught four backcountry skiers and swept them down a chute. Three of the four died, but the one survivor (ESPN Freeskiing editor Megan Michelson) deployed the airbag from her backpack, and she credited that device (and her decision to use it) with saving her life.

With the ABS® TwinBag system (www.abs-airbag.de.us), you have a flotation volume of 170 liters by simply pulling the activation handle. Using this device, the chances of remaining on the surface are considerably increased during the critical phase when the avalanche comes to a stop. In 97% of avalanches in which ABS® TwinBag systems were activated, the airbag was visible on the surface when the avalanche came to a stop, allowing the individual to immediately take self-rescue measures or be rescued by a friend.

Getting out alive sometimes requires a combination of good technique and good equipment. This advance in avalanche survival is something all backcountry skiers and snowboarders or snowshoers should consider carrying.