What happened this week is horrible. But as I listen to BBC news I hear of horrible things happening all around the world. Just today I heard about some children being killed while at a church and another group of more than 40 children injured elsewhere. But of course these things happened in another part of the world.

Have some of us in the US gotten such an inflated sense of our selves as "the greatest nation on the earth" that we think we are somehow special and that these things can't happen to us? Could this be why so many are unprepared because they think that nothing bad is ever going to happen? Even those of us who are prepared, can we ever be truly prepared for this kind of evil?

Thats exactly what I've heard from people.

 

This type of thing is expected overseas but not at home is the way most people think.

 

so to keep this Survival and Emergency Prep and not GC/P type of thread....

How do we prep for some event such as Boston, or even the West, TX recent occurances?

 

When our daughter studied in Australia for six months, she said to me, "Dad, my host family likes me and treats me real well, but I don't think that Americans are thought of as well here as I imagined.

I could only say, "It may be worth your whole college experience to have learned that one thing."

Be it ever so humble...

 

so to keep this Survival and Emergency Prep and not GC/P type of thread....

How do we prep for some event such as Boston, or even the West, TX recent occurances?

I think the first thing we have to do is get to the mindset that we are vulnerable. We have to be alert at all times. I was already uncomfortable being in an area with a huge number of people. This kind of thing only strengthens that thought.

 

reaping and sowing is happening....we are not innocent.

pack as much as you can away for what is about to take place.

 

I was thinking along the lines of being ever-vigilant of your surroundings. You just never know when something, be it intentional or accidental is going to happen.

This year isnt starting out very well.

 

This is an interesting question. I don't think we are "special" in as much as most are unaware.

On 9/11 I worked in a setting with foreign students. Given the events of the day, our home office ordered all locations to close and I complied. When I told one student who was a foreign medical doctor that we were closing for the day, he understood but commented that these things happen everyday in the world.

I never forgot this short conversation & it is something I often think about when I have moments of, "why am I keeping these extra [fill in the blank]". One never knows what will happen or what may one day make even the most mundane task easier. It's trying to keep it all organized that can become a challenge.

In terms of preparing for events such as TX or Boston, I don't know the answer to this question but believe that if I am prepared in general that this will allow there to be an extra few items on the shelves for those who did not. My dad always taught me that it costs the same to fill the gas tank in the car when it is at 1/2 as it does when it's empty.

Like another member noted, I too avoid being a large crowds or in situations where escape or getting home would be difficult. I don't see it as living in fear - I see it as living in comfort.

 

To answer Angie's question to the best of my ability, I think it comes down to awareness. I am not sure that never being in a large crowd will work for the long term for most of us.

We must change our way of thinking and start paying attention to what is going on around us. Like noticing the Movie theater shooter leaving the theater, or the Marathon bombers acting strange and leaving behind their backpacks.

And also being aware of our surroundings, where are the exits that are closest to me? How can I get to a different one if that one is blocked for some reason?

I feel those are the biggest preps we can make and they are to our thinking and cost us nothing. I am not suggesting we live in fear, the bad guys win if we do, but insisting that nothing should change with our way of thinking, or going about our daily lives is not realistic in my opinion.

We are our own first line of defense against those who make a choice to terrorize us, will doing the above things guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to us? Heck NO, but they just might give you those few extra precious moments you need to save your life or those of the ones you love.

MTCW Tracy in WA

 

Have some of us in the US gotten such an inflated sense of our selves as "the greatest nation on the earth" that we think we are somehow special and that these things can't happen to us?

I think there was a time when that was true but 9/11 changed all that.

I've looked @ the photos from Boston and wondered how would anyone have known something was amiss? There were backpacks everywhere!

IMO, alot of the casualties here in TX could have been avoided. I still haven't found info about how close that apt complex was, but it was obviously TOO close. We're well aware in my neck of the woods as to what happens when fertilizer explodes. Texas City, TX Disaster, 1947.......2 ships loaded w/ ammonium nitrate blew up while docked near the refinery. The anchor from the Grandcamp landed over 1½ away. Deaths: 581......many were sightseeing the fire @ the time of the explosion.

There are some things that you just can't prep for IMO......other than being ready to meet your Maker.

 

• While we should keep living our lives, and enjoying our pastimes, it may be prudent to start avoiding large, prominent gatherings and events.
• Be aware of your surroundings; even at home.
• If in a large crowd, know where the exits are, and stay near them.
• Have a well-stocked first aid kit at all times.
• Know first aid.
• Never underestimate mob mentality.

 

Contrary to the advice of other Countrys we are following in their footsteps, so I don't know what people are thinking and are not listening to them. I'll continue to be ready for what MY head is telling me.

 

IMO, the first thing we need to do to prepare is to have our spiritual issues in order. This is not related specifically to terrorism. Accidents can happen at a moment's notice and, depending on your beliefs in the afterlife, we need to be ready to die.

We need to realize that we are taking a risk to participate in certain things and the PTB cannot keep us safe, even if they say they can. It is just too easy for a highly motivated person with bad intent to breach the defenses, especially with events that occur over a large area or with a large number of people.

If you tend to do things in the same areas, get to know some of the LEO's in that area. I know for a fact that while they are not often able to tell all they know (to hold down panic), they do often give friends and family a heads up to avoid certain areas. For example, there is a very large Halloween party (tens of thousands of people) in my region. When dh and I were younger, we used to love going, but haven't been in years. A LE friend of ours warned us a couple of years ago that if we were planning to go, to avoid a certain section of the event. They had been warned that a certain big city gang was planning to take over that area. Nothing solid, not an official warning, but a friendly heads up. Those kinds of hints can be very helpful when it comes to staying safe.

We need to practice situational awareness. As others have mentioned, know the layout and escape routes. Identify the weakest, least defensible areas also so they can be avoided. If someone looks creepy and sets off your "spidey sense", pay attention to your feelings - move far away from that person, even put a physical barrier between you if possible.

We can also be diligent about an EDC (every day carry) kit. There are very effective, miniature first aid kits that will fit in a pocket. No bandaids though. You need the quickclot impregnated gauze, tourniquets, latex gloves, serious stuff for serious, life saving response to horrible injuries. The goal is to sustain life until trained emergency personel can arrive.

And the bottom line, we need to recognize that it CAN happen to us and proceed accordingly. Instead of moving forward in fear, denial or ignorance, we need to move forward purposefully, ready mentally and prepared physically. This won't stop terrorism from happening, but it will help minimize the damage it can do.

 

I don't think we're special, but have lived in a fairly safe environment. I didn't realize how safe until we were stationed in Germany and faced the bombed out part of the Frankfurt Airpost. I learned to be more aware of my surroundings. Then I came back stateside and at a resturant noticed an unattended bag. My senses were alerted so I notified the manager only to see her shrug it off. I think we just need to learn to become more aware of our surroundings and watch out for one another.

 

I don't know how anyone could have preped for Boston. There were so many people, with so many bags and backpacks and who would have guessed this was going to happen? But, Texas...why were the fert plant, a nursing home, a school and an apartment complex so close to each other? When, planning for life, the first thing I do is look around. Do I want to live , have kids in schools, do I want to work, where something so dangerous is produced or stored? Ummm, no. The first step in personal safety, family safety is making sure the surroundings are safe.

 

I keep extra Pork-N-Beans in case I need to stay inside for an extended period of time. Extra ammo in case someone thinks they need to be in here with me (and rip off my beans).

Most important thing is a camo coveralls set, so I can go to the barn and feed the animals. I may need to go out and get firewood too. I do not intend to be cold.

 

People don't stop to think why this country was brought about and why they are trying so hard to destroy it.

This country stands as the only thing that can change what is going on in other countries. What if we weren't here when Hilter was around. And how many times since then. To many want to put us into some kind of version of perfection when we fight wars and why we fight them. The very nature of this country won't allow it. But at the same time people from all those othere countires still fight to get in here. That allows them say in now things are going in their homeland and gives them some hope of changing it.
If the US goes down as it is going people will rue the day they destroyed it because it wasnt perfect and politically correct in some way. People will look at what goes on in the world today as the Good old days

 

I would hope that everyone who saw what has been occurring today makes some prep plans. Some residents were told to leave their homes; others were told to stay in. You need to be prepped for either situation.

 

I've been paying attention the last few months and I've learned that if we just limit rifle magazines to 10 rounds and make it illegal to turn your pressure cooker into a claymore we will all be saved and meaness will disappear from the world.

Oh, and the Feds have a bridge they'd like for us to buy..

 

I think there was a time when that was true but 9/11 changed all that.

I've looked @ the photos from Boston and wondered how would anyone have known something was amiss? There were backpacks everywhere!

IMO, alot of the casualties here in TX could have been avoided. I still haven't found info about how close that apt complex was, but it was obviously TOO close. We're well aware in my neck of the woods as to what happens when fertilizer explodes. Texas City, TX Disaster, 1947.......2 ships loaded w/ ammonium nitrate blew up while docked near the refinery. The anchor from the Grandcamp landed over 1½ away. Deaths: 581......many were sightseeing the fire @ the time of the explosion.

There are some things that you just can't prep for IMO......other than being ready to meet your Maker.

I grew up in a small farming town i live in one now , growing up a medical waste recycling facility moved in about 3 miles north of town , this was about the same time as HIV became widespread and widely known about , many people in town were very concerned , the fire department toured the facility and told people nothing to worry about , the deputy fire chief was one of my teachers , he explained to all of us that , we should be much more concerned with the Mill that was square in the middle of town , and the grain company just north of town as the grain company stored enough anhydrous ammonia that on a calm day with slight breeze from the north we were all dead if it leaked.

because people grew up on farms and life was good or because they don't know any better , people think Ag can't be dangerous , even when it tallies more deaths than many industries that most think are very dangerous peoples perception often outweighs actual risk or the risk often out weighs peoples perception depending on what it is.

one farmer here or there dieing from a farm accident doesn't make sensational news but there are more dead farmers and farm or grain elevator workers than in most any other American industries

a friend died in his silo about 5 years ago , he had been farming all his life , and was about 65 and in good shape and would have likely lived much longer.

the actual danger of farming is much closer to that of being a cop about the same number die working every year.

 

So true, Pete, so true.

 

"Do we think we're special?" I believe the question is phrased wrong. Most people who live in places with relative stability, whether governmental, cultural, seismic, or meteorologic; don't think they are special, they just tend to take for granted that "things out of our ordinary experience don't happen here". It's a low effort way to look at their world, with an implicit trust that others will take responsibility for anything out of the well accustomed ordinary. Ask the folks in Juarez what is "ordinary", and you will get far different answers than someone from Juneau, or Jaharta. A blast in Alepo that kills 3 and injures over a hundred is sadly quite ordinary. A drone that kills 30 and injures 100 in Pakistan is not even news in the US, but is becoming "ordinary" there. It simply becomes a matter of perspective.


When and wherever the non-ordinary things eventually do happen, the ptb do everything possible to reinforce that "we are in control", even when it is obvious that they are reeling from and as powerless in the situation the average guy or gal on the street. The idea is to repeat the lie often enough to re-convince most of those who want to believe it. Eventually, the brute force of the resources at their disposal usually contribute to making things more orderly, even if not better for those directly effected. Anyone with half a gram of observation skills can name at least half a dozen places from the recent news where the "unexpected" happened, the gov immediately claims they are in control, and that is an outright lie - snowstorms in the northern US where plows were ordered off the roads, tornadoes in the south; earthquakes in Iraq and China; civil unrest in Syria and Egypt; bangs in Boston and Texas - no control over the actual events whatsoever, only attempts after the facts to put some semblance of order over the chaos. Their eventual success (or failure) depends entirely on the resources available and whether the chaos abates. What happens if (or when) the resources aren't available? What if some version of the chaos becomes the new normal? A foot or two of snow in a day is normal for some, if it only happens once or twice a winter. A foot a day for 20 of 30 days probably isn't. Six inches of rain a day is normal for some, and for others, 6 inches per year is normal. Gunshots and killings in some neighborhoods are normal, even where guns aren't legal, and in some neighborhoods, gunshots everyday with noone killed are the norm, because people aren't targets.


I know I'm special, but that's proven because I don't think (or act) like those who think they are immune to any or all the 'bad nasties' that happen 'somewhere else'. There is nowhere that is completely safe. No matter where I am, I'm eventually downwind of nuclear fallout, and other than KPo for the short term, there is very little I can do to mitigate that risk, especially for a large scale event. I know that if I wander through the pasture across the road that contains over 100 cows and at least a couple bulls thinking "no danger here", I stand an equal chance of getting hurt as thinking "no danger here" while walking through the lower east side of Chicago (or Johannesburg, or Dubai). If I am not well aware of my surroundings at all times; if I don't know all of my immediate neighbors well enough to know explicitly and implicitly who can be trusted with my life and who can't, as well as some in the wider community, there is no amount of the 3 B's that will keep me safe, especially over a long term.


Depending on your spiritual perspective, the only way you are safe from all potential physical harm, is death. Regardless of the place you live, the life you live, and/or the preps you have, there is no escape from death. Period. So from my perspective, as a very first prep, I need to be prepared for that eventuality. Everything else is gravy.

 

Andy, good post for the most part, but I think you missed a critical connection. Most people don't actually think "there is no danger here". They have no inkling to think at all. As you noted, most people are so accustomed to not being responsible for much of anything in their lives, that even entertaining the possibility that they can or should be responsible is unthinkable. They are usually required to have auto insurance so they don't have to be personally responsible for driving safely. They desire health insurance so they don't have to be personally responsible for their health. They desire "public services", like police and fire, so they don't have to be personally responsible for their safety or their neighbors. They send their children to school because they are either unwilling or unable to be responsible for raising them (which is far more complicated than just instructing them). Nearly every aspect of most people's lives is "someone else's responsibility", usually by their willing default, because it's 'easier' that way (and more profitable for others).


So until they are forced by external circumstances to be aware, to be responsible, to be prepared, those thoughts would be as foreign as seeing a three story tall Improbability Drive powered space ship on a Cricket Pitch, cloaked with a "Somebody Else's Problem" field (requires much less energy than true invisibility), and even when confronted with the facts, many will just refuse to acknowledge it, after all, they've been conditioned from birth that "it's not my responsibility".

 

Do we think we're special? Why yes, yes we do.

Americans have been raised to think we are very special. Even now, with terrorist attacks and fertilizer plants blowing up and tragedies happening, even with the people who seem to hate us just because we are Americans, there are still millions of people who WANT to immigrate to the US. There is something magical about being an American, and I'm proud to be one. We need to guard that magic daily.

If the question is: Are we so special that we cannot be attacked, that we do not need to be prepared, that we can be complaisant? Then the answer is a resounding NO! We must prep, we must be vigilant, we MUST work to keep ourselves free.

 

People are under prepared across the world too, not just here, that's just human nature. 358,192 people are born every day, and 154,889 people die every day around the world on average, I don't get all weepy because some die in sensational ways that make the boob tube for 24hrs a day for weeks at a time..