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Protection Matters!

FBI and Justice Department studies show that crime in America has increased over 500% since 1960 to the point where a violent incident of some kind occurs every 22 seconds.  On average, a rape happens every 5.8 minutes and a murder occurs every 34 minutes.  Sadly, it is estimated that half of all Americans will be robbed or burglarized.  Additional risks include tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, food poisoning, terrorism acts, riots and identity theft. The chips really do seem to be stacked against us!  However, in an emergency, those of us who are prepared will fare better than those who remain unprepared.  For your sake and that of your loved ones, be prepared. Don’t be the deer in the headlights!

Inclement Weather Preparedness

Planning is your best defense against dangerous weather.  Before threatening storms even appear on the horizon, it’s the measures you have already taken that could make the crucial difference between life and death.  Follow this important checklist to help keep you and your family safe:

•Remove dead and rotting trees that could fall on your house or garage during strong wind.

•If there are items on your property that could become airborne as flying debris, move them inside.

•Unplug appliances and electronic equipment to protect against lightning strikes and electrical current surges.  Consider installing a whole-house electric surge protector; often your electric utility company will provide such a professional service for a fee.

•For insurance purposes, inventory all valuables in your home with photographs or video.  Document the monetary value of each item along with the date of purchase.

•Examine your homeowner, flood and wind insurance policies and your auto insurance policy to ensure adequate coverage for expensive or specialty items such as jewelry, furs, silverware, cameras, and high value collectibles.  Read and understand those insurance policies, especially their disclosures.

•Keep insurance policies and other important documents, such as home mortgage papers, in a safe-deposit box or a fireproof home safe.

•Sign up for The Weather Channel’s severe weather mobile alerts.

•Listen to NOAA Weather Radio for important updates during inclement weather.

•Protect frangible and delicate mementos in waterproof containers or take them with you if you evacuate.

•Prepare an evacuation checklist and keep it up to date.

•Prepare an adequate emergency survival supply kit for home use and a portable one for use if you evacuate.

•Bring pets indoors during storms.

•If you are inside during severe weather:

–protect against a lightning strike by avoiding contact with cell phones and corded phones, electrical equipment and metal plumbing.

–don’t wash your hands, take a shower, wash dishes or wash laundry.  Stay away from windows and doors.

•If you are outside during severe weather:

–seek shelter when you first hear thunder or see dark clouds or lightning.

–squat low to the ground, place your hands on your knees with your head between them, and make yourself the smallest lightning target possible.

–stay away from pooling water, metal objects and vehicles because they can conduct lightning.  If driving during a storm, get off the road and out of the vehicle.

–if you’re boating or swimming, get to shore immediately.  Stay away from swimming pools.

–move inside a fully enclosed building if possible.

–avoid large groups of people as well as tall objects such as trees and utility poles because they attract lightning.

Fire Preparedness

On average, fires in the United States cause 4,000 deaths annually…more than any other industrialized nation in the world.  As of the end of April 2011, 6,018 American military deaths (this includes non-combat, accidental deaths) had occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan since the beginning of October 2001.  During those entire nine and one half years at war, we lost the same number of lives that we lose every 18 months due to home fires in this country!  Moreover, the monetary cost of those fires is the total of the losses sustained plus the money spent on fire prevention and protection.  For 2008 alone, that cost is estimated at $362 billion, or roughly 2.5 percent of our national gross domestic product.  The facts are that most fires are preventable and many of them, once started, are survivable if all of us would:

•Read and follow all product and item warnings and directions pertaining to fire and flammability.

•Keep heat and open flame away from flammable materials.

•Become familiar with basic fire codes.

•Know how to use fire extinguishers and locate them properly at home.

•Install and maintain home smoke detectors.

•Conduct fire drills at home and include your children.

•Check the Home Safety Council for excellent fire safety information and resources, most of which are free.

Car Emergencies

All vehicles are equipped with systems designed to alert drivers to problems.  Tire pressure monitoring is one such system in addition to dashboard instruments, which warn against high coolant temperature and low oil pressure.  Alert drivers who employ their senses, however, can best detect some potential problems.

•The smell of gas.  An aware driver should always respond to the smell of gasoline and seek out its source with the help of a professional if needed.  Ignition sources under the hood of a car include electrical connections and overheatable components such as the engine block and the exhaust manifold.

•The noise from an axle.  A clicking or clunking noise emanating from the wheels when making turns is often the sign of a failed constant velocity joint or axle shaft.  It could also signal a failed wheel bearing or hub unit.

•The feel of a front-end shake or shimmy.  A front end that shakes badly might be traceable to a failing tire. When a steel belt shifts within a tire, it becomes egg shaped and creates fierce shaking.  Other issues that could cause the steering wheel vibration include unbalanced wheels and worn brake linings.

•The sight of leaking fluids.  Before a car loses its brakes, develops a transmission problem, or its engine overheats, the fluids involved often are visible under or around the parked car.  This is why a brief walk around your parked car is always a good idea. Antifreeze shows up as a green or orange fluid in the extreme front of the car under the radiator while transmission fluid is often farther back just behind the engine.  Brake fluid sometimes will be found around the wheels or under the master brake cylinder.

Personal Safety

While there are many legitimate, excellent self-defense, close combat and personal protection instructors, schools and training programs, I particularly recommend without hesitation Target Focus Training.  It could change your concept of self-defense and give you the confidence, knowledge and principles you’d need to defeat any attacker.  It offers a wide selection of DVD’s, books, and live training. After all, what’s your life or the lives of your loved ones worth to you? Here’s the beauty of this program in a nutshell:

• The overriding premise is based upon causing injury.
• A person’s size, condition or strength has no bearing.
• Target Focus Training gets away from the traditional concept of defense – you’re not going to worry about blocking, techniques, what the other person might do to you, etc. – you’re going to make them concerned with these things.
• The program does not revolve around REACTING to your attacker’s actions; rather it focuses on your actions in DEFEATING the threat. Defensive thinking causes you to hesitate as your mind tries to figure out what is happening. TFT teaches how to focus on targets and inflict injury.
• focusing on targets of opportunity
• It is not martial arts, mixed martial arts or ultimate fighting.
• Indeed, no one would put a five year old in the ring with any ultimate fighting or MMA competitor – however, that’s the point! You are not going to compete with an asocial attacker; you’re going to injure them! Now, what if that five year old puts his finger into that ultimate fighting champion’s eye? Are you beginning to get the idea?

The following are some tips:

• Lock your doors and windows after you go to bed. Over the years I’ve had people say, ‘I shouldn’t have to lock my doors!’ No one has to do anything except suffer the potential consequences.
• Keep your cellphone and an extra charged battery, along with your vehicle keys, on your nightstand while asleep.
• If confronted by an attacker, target the eyes, throat, collarbone, sternum, groin, knees and ankles.
• Don’t make the number 1 pepper spray mistake! If you have it and ever feel the need to use it, do not announce your intention. Do not hold it up and threaten an attacker with, ‘Stop or I’ll pepper spray you!’ Just get up close and spray them!

• Many other tips are given in my book, ‘Your Inalienable Right! A Common Sense Guide to Self Protection in the New Millennium’ (Writers Club Press – 2000). It is available here!

Acts of Terrorism

On April 26, 2011, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the beginning of the National Terrorism Advisory System(NTAS) that replaced the former color-coded alert system and was developed in close collaboration with state, local, tribal, and private sectors.  Its purpose is to deliver timely information to the public about credible terrorist threats and.  NTAS alerts will deliver a concise summary of the potential threat by identifying the geographic region, mode of transportation or critical infrastructure affected by the threat and actions being taken to ensure public safety.  Additional information will include actions that individuals, communities, businesses, and governments should take.  These alerts will also include a clear statement of the nature of the threat, which will be defined in one of two ways:

1)  An “Elevated Threat” which is a credible terrorist threat against the United States.

2)  An “Imminent Threat” which is a credible, specific, and impending terrorist threat against the U.S.

Depending on the nature of the threat, an alert might be issued only to limited numbers of law enforcement agencies and affected areas of the private sector.  Conversely, it might be sent more broadly to the general public through news and social media channels.  Alerts will be issued for a specified time period and will automatically expire.  An alert could be extended if new or revised information evolves.

Remember – be prepared by gathering as much information as possible about potential threats, how to prevent, deal with if unpreventable and survive the odds stacked against you in this ever changing and dangerous world. Stay safe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

The author has over 35 years in the self-defense, protection, emergency management, safety and fire disciplines. He is the author of ‘Your Inalienable Right! A Common Sense Guide to Self Protection in the New Millennium’. For your online resource for all your security products, protection, safety and survival needs, go to http://www.protectionmatters.info/

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