Its 3 O’clock in night, and you are in your deepest sleep and sweetest dreams. Suddenly someone kicks hard on your front door, aggressive and repeatedly. Your sweet dreams turns to nightmare: Its your local fire brigade shouting: “fire-fire-fire. You have 5 – FIVE minutes to evacuate and escape” he shouts through your door. What to do right now?
A very plausible example from the real life – I tried it myself – and everyday all over the earth people have rapid escape from fire, flooding, chemical emission, smoke or simply horrible bad weather.
Or war.
And all such escapes usually have to go fast. Very fast!
Another possible example is nuclear fallout or chemical pollution fallout from very remote locations travelling hundreds of kilometres carried by the wind but still very very dangerous and in worst case deadly if we don’t take precautions.
Even these scenarios sounds terrible and as sequence in bad movie you can prepare yourself both mentally, physically, and make procedures, process and prepare your escape plans and equipment when things is calm and in peace.
It doesn’t have to complicated.
Keep it Simple, planned, determined and effective.
In case of emergency or fall out and need of escape and evacuation shelter you have to expect no electrical power for many days mabbe even weeks. All planning and preparation should have this in mind. We are simply talking about survival no matter the time of the year, the weather season, the weather condition or the place you are on the globe and the surroundings. We have to foreseen the worst of the worse here.
Fall out protection must be foreseen as at least 12 days in isolation in rooms without any visit as no one can go out neither yourself. 12 days because its usually the time it takes for nuclear radiation to fall to level low enough for (civil people) going outside a few minutes per day. Soldiers, civil defence, fire brigade and other authorities might be forced in duty outdoors no matter the circumstances though.
That said, if you got a full strike of nuclear blast you must be very deep in the ground protected by concrete and steel in order to survive. But it seen like during WWII where several people got a full strike and survived just by accidental being behind brick walls at the bomb blast.
Consider that power, water, sewing, phone connections and internet is gone. Completely dead. Lets say 3 weeks hiding in darkness without becoming an idiot you have to prepare your mindset and plan.
First of all: Don’t panic, keep your head clear. React constructive and make good decisions.
Rapid practical disaster management
Lets do a quick leader analyzing:
- Get information about the situation. What is actually happens. Git rid of rumours. You want verified facts.
- Time is always a factor. In case of escape and evacuation you have too little. Prepare today! How long time do you have when the incident occur and you need to get way?
- What is my tasks? To escape and evacuate.
- What is my options? Do you need to protect yourself before help others?
Then:
- Determine the best solution by value the options good and bad. Which one gives best value for the time? Choose this! Plan how to do.
- Get people (family, friends, colleagues, neighbours ) on the scene involved: inform them the situation, your tasks and how to do it and with what to do it.
- Make sure all understand the plan.
- Initiate and start your urgent rapid escape an shelter project.
- Help others by controlling. Change if necessary by telling the right way.
Keep going and be a psychological mentor and roll model You are all under pressure. Remember time breaks for water and food.. toilet etc. No one last whole day without. - Get covered and protected. Dig deep in the nearest forest close to fresh sweet (drinkable) water like a stream or creek. Living in town might be problematic but you might have basement, garage, garden, park, semi-prepared places like schools or other public community buildings.
If you pack for everything to be carried in your rucksack then you good on your way. Like a scout or nature walker you should be able carry the essentials for your and your family on your back. Don’t expect any medicinal help!
Packing List
This goes with you personal stuff and survival days in a shelter:
- Water, fresh clean, at least 4 l per person per day for drinking and food, in canister movable and solid quality on case of bumps.
- Food canned, vegetables and meat.
If you have kids or pets you strongly have to take their needs into your consideration and planning as wells.
Consider depots on beforehand at random protected (hidden) places accessible at walking distances on half a day. - Biscuits (digestive), bread, chocolate, cake, coffee instant, tea, power bars
- Medicine, your personal plus relatives, kids, an pets
- Vitamin pills
- Passport plus personal and kids ID
- Money as real cash
- (Spare ) keys to family and friends
- Address book (in paper form) with fam and friends contacts numbers, adressess, etc
- Old style FM/AM radio with extra battery or charging handle (emergency radio)
- Hurricane outdoor kitchen (⚠️ Trangia/Primus only use outside or well ventilated place due to danger of carbon monoxide )
- White spirit (for burning the cooker)
- Fire extinguisher, mini
- Matches
- Torch (and batteries)
- Candles
- Compass
- Maps
- Mirror (made of metal. can be in your compass)
- Sleeping bag, winter
- Mattress sleeping, lightweight outdoor use
- Blanket, wool if possible
- Small waterproof tent for escape in rough weater. A tunnel style with small apsis for the gear and food cooking is good.
- Toilet paper – water tight packed
- Plastic bags for toilette use 20 litre with wire closing.
- Bags, small 30 l
- Bags, big, 100 l
- Bodybags for mortals.
- Manilla marks (similar to big gift tags) to put name and date on mortals.
- Hand sanitizers
- Soap for hands
- Shampoo
- Creme
- Hygiene pads for women
- First aid kit big
- Water cleaning kit
- Shaving kits with razors
- Ear plugs
- Eye protection glasses
- Sewing kit
- Scissor, sharp
- Rope 20 m
- Small axe
- Small pocket knife
- Knife, personal for everyday use (big scout knife)
- Sharpener kit / Carborundum stone for knifes (an axe)
- Short shuffle
- Fishing 🎣 line hook 🪝 rod reel.
Clothes
- Trousers, long
- Boxer shorts / Underwear
- Socks, thin
- Socks, thick
- Outer shell jacker
- T shirts
- Sweater warm
- Gloves
- Hats
- Scarfs
- Boots
- Shoes
- Towel
Expect to be able to survive in weather condition from everything as the harsh cold freezing winter to the warmest summer. Escape like this comes often rapidly with very short warning and no options to go shopping. Or the shops are sold out. Prepare while you can without being hysteric.
Welfare and psychology elements you should pack as well
- Family photos and stories relatives.
- Paper
- Pencil
- Envelopes
- Stamps for postal service
- Small analogue games (as boardgames withot power)
- Books ( also lectures for school)
- Survival handbook,
- Home made field toilet or hunters toilet.
- Copy or the real buying papers of the ownership of your car, house, bicycle, pets.
- Copy or the real insurances papers of your car, house, bicycle, yourself, fam, kid, pets
Other Electronic, IT and tools
- Geiger-meter (nuclear counter)
- Telephone, your smartphone plus old spare. (maybe a fixed line on dep)-
- Walkies-Talkies or Amateur radio
- Computer
- Batteries for all your electronics
- Chargers, hand crank driven, plus wind, sun or water power driven. Be creative
- 12 Volt Batteries car size in shelter
- Power supply inverter 230v 12 v
- Cables and converter cables for all of it
- Backup hard disk(with backup of all your files)
- Camera + memory-cards
- Power cables, long extension
- Power adapter and outlet breaker box, construction site style. Small and solid
Don-t expect GPS systems to work, nor WiFi or internet.
Equipment and tools for improvised shelter in your villa, the basement or garden:
- Air cleaning system – Old style Manuel hand driven with sand filter+ carbon
- Bags for sand
- Dust face mask 6 per day
- Old sheets for tightening cracks (You don’t want any uncontrolled and filtered air into your shelter).
- Concrete mix for bulding repair and fixing
- Hammer
- Kind of Tool Box with spanners hammer, saw, axe, screruver
- Nails
- Wooden beams 5x
- Girdrs 4×4″ and less
- Planks
- Plexiglas for (repair of) windows
- Hinges, light and some heavy duties
- Door system
- Showering system
- Car style start helping cables
- Dust cleaning and environment hygiene
- Sweeper
- Vacuum cleaner
- Tissue for washing walls tables boxes floor
- Detergent
- Long shuffle )
Welfare and personal strength
- Any smart solution to keep you fit like hand-weights or foot weights ( you loose muscles tissue after a few days. Do low power excesses, also in order to keep stress level down).
- Keep a daily routine 8 h sleep 8 h work 8 h rest. If possible someone should be awake 24h a the day to protect and guard you.
Miscellaneous
- Legal air gun/rifle with ammo for shooting rats and birds (and getting food).
- Fire safe for some of your most valuable documents and photos. Put this where you expect a survival compartment to be as it as it is heavy and unhandy, Then you only have to bring the papers an documents with you.
Price for packing emergency rucksack
Lots of the gear and equipment on this list might cost a bit. But if you use it as part of your regular backpacking or outdoor living you get familiar with it, and knows how to use it in darkness and harsh weather. You should train and exercise this anyway in order to make sure you actually can use what you have prepared. Its too late when you need to try to figure out of this. Panic, stress, chaos, and 10.000 of questions to answer in short time might break you down or put you on the wrong focus. Having you escape rucksack/backpack ready and packed keeps your stress level down and survival rate high.
