All this talk about terrorist attacks in the media got me thinking...in the even that I am in the vicinity of an attack, how do I go about using my supplies. I have a small altoids tin first aid kit that I always carry on my person, and I've been carrying a nalgene bottle of water (instead of buying bottled water from vending machines as much as to be prepared), and I'm putting together a bug out bag. But if I'm in a situation, such as trapped in a building, do I share survival stuff? I'm on a college campus, so theoretically, If I got trapped in a room, it could be with quite a few people. So is there a protocal for sharing supplies with people who haven't prepared themselves, or is it every man for himself?

-Chris

Just to clarify, I would obviously want to be as helpful as I can be to those around me in such a disaster. I just don't want to waste precious resources.

-Chris

The situation itself is likely to be short lived if you are a survivor. The memory of how you handled yourself will reappear with every telling of the tale. I would use my head of course and not just waste resources, but the things you carry are there to be used not treasured.

In modern life you aren't offered many chances to be truly heroic. In fact life in the US dosen't even offer many opportunities to be sacraficially kind. Everybody has so much all ready. Be remembered well. Mac

HERE HERE! Have your fun laughing at all the power (electrical wise) people while your boom-box is blasting, but when youve had your laughs at them for all they laughed at you, help em out, you could be gaining new friends and make survivalists everywhere look that much better.

Chris,

I think you've already answered your own question! Nearly every day offers small opportunities to help someone and too often in life there are opportunities to help someone else at some sort of risk or cost to yourself. How we respond is a measure of some aspects of our character. None of us are perfect, of course.

Groups under stress seek direction - leadership, if you will. Groups that already have some "formal" hierarchy - such as a classroom with a Prof - will normally follow the lead of the formal "leader" at least at for a while - often into serious danger. Some individuals in groups under stress vie for who is the leader. More on that in a sec...

A few individuals in most groups under stress will try to disassociate themselves from the group by (in)action or physical standoffishness (even if circumstances only permit moving away a few feet) - one does not need to be a shrink to understand the reasons why some do that - only quickly decide if it's important to the group or not and take appropriate (in)action and move on.

If you are amongst a "crowd" with no organization, the best you can do is set the example and tend or see to the tending of individuals who need some sort of immediate care. When you act like that ("Follow me; do as I do..."), you will soon accrete others and quickly find yourself "in charge" of an initially small group - what happens next and how you handle that is far beyond what I can put into a few electronic words, but if you get that far, I trust you will manage as best you can.

A college classroom situation, in my opinion, is a crapshoot. A wise and effective leader (the Prof) will listen, inventory, assess, consider the advice, skills, and "equipment" of his/her charges, and make decisions. If you have something to contribute to the aims/survival of the group - skills, knowledge, gear, etc. - the Prof will use you; probably even put you in charge of tasks and even assign folks to assist you. That would be the ideal situation.

Unfortunately, Profs are just as failiable as any other human AND they did not get selected as Profs for their leadership abilities, nor are they ever trained or groomed to be leaders. In fact, some of them are arrogant, venal, and self-serving weasels. Some are just ordinary folks, and some are pretty fine examples of the human race. What sort you have is not up to you, LoL! I suggest that you offer your services as soon as it is appropriate. If the Prof's behavior is a danger to the group, ignore him/her and do what you believe is best; you have no oath binding you to follow him/her. Again, set the example; some will follow you (literally) and that's the best you can do in a situation like that.

If the Prof doesn't cut and run; if the Prof is trying to do what is best for the group, make a sincere effort to be helpful. Leadership is not about being liked, and some very effective leaders in crisis situations are not very likable people. Even likeable leaders (it is possible to be effective, respected, AND liked - sometimes) must make unpleasant decisions... but try not to be a lemming; don't be afraid to shout "STOP!"

Enough on that stuff - only experiences can really teach that sort of thing, not a pulpit.

Your initial post, IIRC, mentioned a small personal FAK and a water bottle. Consider adding to your every-day-carry a few more items and such good habits, knowledge, experiences, and skills as you can reasonably gain. A few thoughts:

Your FAK is smaller than I am comfortable with. At least add two blood-stopper type dressings (or the equivalent in menstrual pads, roller bandage, and tape). If you have an ROTC element on campus, ask someone for two military field dressings - the current ones are compressed very small in the packages. The packaging, even on military dressings, is susceptable to abrasion/puncture damage if carried loose - get a free tyvek envelope from the USPS, crumple it repeatedly to soften the texture, and wrap/package the dressings in the envelope: cut the flap off, place the dressings inside one corner, fold/roll tightly, peel the backing off the removed flap, and use it to tape the mess closed. Leave a pull-tag on the end of the flap strip by folding about 1/2 inch of the adhesive back on itself and you will not need a sharp to get the package open. If you do the wrapping well, this is also essentially waterproof even for brief total immersions.

Can you add a modest-sized Victorinox? Or a multi-tool? Or both? I sure would.

Flashlight!!! At least a white Photon II.

Much more, but if you've read this far you probably don't need any more of my suggestions. I hope this helps. It was neat to read your question - says something good about you, I believe.

Regards,

Tom

Thanks Tom. That's pretty much what I thought. As far as my FAK, it's really meant to be something to tide me over until I get back to my appartment on campus and get to my big FAK. I actually have a fair amount of bloodstopping supplies in there. There are like 8 2x2 gauze dressings, and many feet of medical tape that has been rerolled. Thanks for the military dressing suggestion, I'm going to try to track some down. I'm going to definitly add more stuff to my FAK, supplementary tins, I suppose.
I have a number of different folders I carry, depending on what kind of pants i'm wearing, and I do have a leatherman wave i carry as well. As far as light goes, I have a mag light solitare on my keychain. Thanks everybody for the responses.

-Chris