I got no class

Sad news, at least sad for me.  The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class was cancelled.  Apparently only two people (out of 4 million) signed up for it.    Now I will never know how to triage.

Upcoming weekend plans

This weekend I will be in class on Friday night from 6 to 10, then 8 hours on Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday.  Sounds like fun, no?  I am taking a CERT class to learn how to help my community in the event of a national emergency.

The class sounds intense.  Not only is it a whole weekend dust in the wind, but we are covering the following……

• Session I, DISASTER PREPAREDNESS:  hazards one can encounter and how familys should react before, during and after.
• Session II, DISASTER FIRE SUPPRESSION:  Fire chemistry, hazardous materials, fire hazards, and fire suppression strategies.
• Session III, DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS PART I: Diagnosing and treating airway obstruction, bleeding, and shock by using simple triage and rapid treatment techniques.
• Session IV, DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS, PART II: Evaluating patients by doing a head to toe assessment, establishing a medical treatment area, performing basic first aid, and practicing in a safe and sanitary manner.
• Session V, LIGHT SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS: Planning a rescue, including size-up, search techniques, rescue techniques, and most important, rescuer safety.
• Session VI, DISASTER PSYCHOLOGY AND TEAM ORGANIZATION: Signs and symptoms that might be experienced by the disaster victim and worker.
  Session VII, COURSE REVIEW AND DISASTER SIMULATION

I did find it ironic that I had to sign up for the class by filling out a paper form in pen and mailing in my form by snail mail.

Below:  I hope the end of the world happens during the AZ State Fair.

what will most likely not be the cause of the apocalypse

Since 7 Minutes in heaven is going on at Space 55 right now, I thought it was a good time to post this video from a past 7 minutes show, performed by Kevin Flanagan and Ashley Naftule.

Best Icon ever for post-apocalypse/prepper forums

This is perfect for an icon for discussion boards where the discussion is the end of the world.  .

The image is originally from a UNICEF ad campaign to raise money for ex-child soldiers in Buruni.  It was part of a 30 second commercial where the Smurfs get carpet-bombed.  You can find it on youtube, I would link but the link moves.  The intent was to show children the horrors of war.  UNICEF released the pilot commercial in Holland.  The immediate response by the internet was that this was just wrong, just plain gargamellly.

Murphy’s law of the apocalypse

Murphy’s Law of the apoclaypse  

• An animal that is too easy to catch ain’t worth eating.
• You will get sick of beans.
• Mice will get to your beans.
• The mice in your beans will be easy to catch.
• The mice in your beans will have Hantavirus.
• People will betray you because of the temptation for meat.
• You will be the meat.
• There will always be someone meaner.

Thoughts pondered and Lessons Learned while watching Ice Age

Over at Survialblog.com there is a list of recommended books and movies.  Under the list of “Some of JWR’s Favorite Movies with Survival Themes” the author is careful to point out that “None of these films except for City of Ember are suitable for children!”

Perhaps he should add Ice Age to the list as kid-friendly survival movie!

Below are thoughts pondered while watching Ice Age.

 

• For a squirrel the Apocalypse comes every year.  The first rule is to horde your nut.
• Zombie tree sloths would not be so scary.
• When animals move in herds, pay attention.
• Remember the dodo.

tracking animals

As mentioned in a previous post, we learned how to track humans as part of the Complete Survivor Class from Ancient Pathways. During the weekend we also discussed tracking animals.

Most books center of what the impression of the animal looks like. This is not so useful because the print will quickly deteriorate so there are no details left to identify the track. Tony emphasized one should think about the “stride and straddle” of the animal to figure out what type of animal it was.

The stride is evidence of  if the beast was walking or running. Stride  would be how long is the step, and straddle would be how wide the animal is. Identifying this takes practice. I am planning on making a “tracking box” in my backyard and study the feral cats impressions and later compare this to a coyote sized dog. Cats and dogs have different tracks.  Most of the wild animals that can hurt us were originally cats or dogs.

Below: Hard to read prints. My guess is coyote.