I was thinking emergency more than primitive living.
I was thinking more about what would you teach somebody so they would still be alive after any type of emergency when you finally got to them.

KenK "I'd say that the most important skill is prevention."


Good point, nice link, I added it to my favourites list to read later. thanks

Then I would say
S.T.O.P.
S.U.R.V.I.V.E. (see the survival FM from the army)
The "3's"

And then move on from there

Yes.

Do you think if these had a short introduction to household, electrical and fire hazards it would make a good teachable one day course?

I liked the prevention idea a lot too.
I might be able to fit something (not much) from our workplace hazard assessment system and something about how a chain a of small events add up to a big event too.

I think Basic First Aid will be given as a separate unit to be taught by St John's Ambulance as a weekend course.

I liked Brangdon and JCWohlschlag's comments too.

For a community group you might focus on two or three things - one for the adults and one for the, well, parents and kids:

1a. Discuss veeeerrrryyyy basic outdoor survival kits - I'm talking about the outdoorsafe.com kind of kit. Emphasize that it needs to be on their person - not at home or in the car. Tell them that an easy way to make a high quality kit is to start with a Doug Ritter Personal Survival Pak and then add the extra recommended bits (knife, flashlight, water, ...). Make sure you can tell them where they can buy one in your area.

If you have time, also emphasizing the importance prevention (trip plan, right gear, avoiding risks, using a map/compass/GPS), , health (temperature regulation, hydration, first aid), personal protection (shelter, insects, sun, warmth), signaling (whistle, lights, fire, cell phones, PLB), sustenance (water, basic food), and maybe navigation - though do emphasize the S.T.O.P. idea mentioned earlier (map, compass, GPS).

In a presentation on Doug Ritter's blog he listed his "top 10" survival items as: 1) a mapping GPS w/ knowledge to use it, 2) one-hand openin knife, 3) fire-starter w/ tinder, 4) water & water purification, 5) whistle, 6) signal mirror, 7) duct tape, 8) shelter, 9) flashlight or headlamp w/ constant on switch, 10)sunscreen & insect repellant, and 11) personal locator beacon (PLB). I like his list feeling that a mapping GPS falls in the prevention camp - preventing folks from getting lost in the first place.

1b. You could also discuss urban preparation. Having key paperwork (including insurance info) in one place. Creating a kit with safe water, garbage bags for shelter, a tarp, first aid kit, a multtool, hammer, prybar, flashlights, radio, cell phones ...

2. Review Doug's primer on survival for kids. Go over this for the parents there. Encourage them to have their children carry the basic kid's items: ID tag, loud plastic whistle, garbage bags (see if you can get your local road/highway dept to donate some orange ones they use for roadside collection), water (though I would seperate this from the rest of the kit - due to weight), tiny flashlight, bright bandanna.

This is actually how I got interested in preparedness and survival. My family was at the local county fair, and we came upon a search and rescue crew booth. I talked with them quite a while. Their focus at the time was mostly on trying to get kids to carry a garbage bag and a whistle. They said that just that could save a lot of lives. I was a Cub Scout leader at he time and wanted to echo that message to the boys in my son's den. In preparing for that I came upon the "Hug a Tree" program on-line, and then finally found equipped.org. Life hasn't been quite the same since them ... in a good way.

Ken K.

As a bit of a side comment, I used to teach a safety course. I would ask how many usually lock their doors whenever they leave home. Most hands went up. I would then ask how many would usually lock their doors whenever they or their family where inside their home. Far fewer hands went up. I would then suggest that, if you could only manage one or the other, try locking them when your family is there. You could see many faces brighten with a new insight as to what their door locks are best used for. They just hadn't thought of it that way before.

Safety is often about common sense and a little forethought. You can't really teach that, but you can do a little consciousness-raising about it, and maybe get some to start thinking ahead a little.

While you will be focusing more on certain things, this means you can cover a lot of basic topics of a general safety nature in a fairly short amount of extra time, because you don't need to teach the nuts and bolts, just stimulate awareness. The students can do the rest.

Got a pool, and kids, and DON'T know CPR? Really?

Does your newly licensed-to-drive teenage daughter know how to fix a flat tire?

Did you know that deadbolts and fire extinguishers earn you a discount on most6 homeowners' insurance?

Anyone here can quickly generate their own list of ideas to mention.

Jeff

(1) common sense (2)common sense (3) common sense (4)common sense (5)common sense...very uncommon in some folks...learn the survival prioritys for your area that you live..vince g. 11b inf...

I guess my top 5 would be in order:

Shelter
Fire
Water
Navigation
Emotional Control

The first 3 are pretty much self explanitory, build a basic shelter, lean to or pitch a tarp or debris hut. The 2nd, building a fire helps both physically and mentally in a wilderness situation. Water can be important if lost more than a day or so, finding it and purifying it come to mind.

The one that I haven't seen so far that can keep you out of a lot of trouble is different types of navigation, or as I call it, staying found. Compass and map, natural navigation and dead reckoning are becoming lost arts.

The last one, emotional control, I believe CAN be taught to some extent. It is the ability to keep from panicking in a bad situation. So many people make their situation worse by making bad decisions because their emotions. This is one that I am constantly preaching to my son and working on myself.

I'd move navigation to the top of the list as staying found is a preventative skill. Often times not getting lost means the other skills aren't needed. Crisis management is a great survival skill.

Stress management